Ferrari’s One Weakness Revealed by Ex-F1 Driver That Would Make Max Verstappen Overtake Pole-Sitter Carlos Sainz Easily

Sabyasachi Biswas | 03/09/2023
Ferrari’s One Weakness Revealed by Ex-F1 Driver That Would Make Max Verstappen Overtake Pole-Sitter Carlos Sainz Easily

Ferrari finally managed to live up to its expectations after Carlos Sainz snatched the pole position from Max Verstappen at Monza on Wednesday. This was Sainz’s first pole position of the year and sent the Tifosi into a Frenzy. However, as per BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, Jolyon Palmer, a former driver pointed out the team’s weakness, which could enable Verstappen to easily take control of the race.

Verstappen is on a nine-race winning streak and one more win will see him set an incredible record of 10 back-to-back victories. The 25-year-old’s rivals, however, don’t want this to happen and they are adamant about snapping the Red Bull ace’s run.

On top of that, Red Bull is yet to lose a race this season as they are on a 14-race winning streak. Therefore, with Sainz’s pole position, the optimism in  Maranello is really high. However, Palmer feels that it may not last very long.

Palmer reveals Ferrari’s weakness that could help Max Verstappen

Palmer recently opened up about Ferrari and its weakness and said that the prancing horse challengers have a higher degradation which is a massive disadvantage. With the SF-23 being a tire-eater, it is unlikely that Sainz will be able to hold off Verstappen for a long time.

Talking about this, he said, “Their [Ferrari’s] tire deg [degradation] is higher than Red Bull. That’s why they’re still thinking [about it.]” Following this, Palmer put his money on the two-time world champion. Admittedly, Fernando Alonso warned Ferrari about Red Bull’s pace as well.

The Spanish driver is also not thinking of taking the win against the Red Bull driver. Given how mighty the RB-19 is in terms of race pace, Sainz knows the reality behind the situation in terms of performance at the moment. However, that does not stop him from dreaming.

Carlos Sainz knows the reality but is still hopeful

Following the conclusion of Saturday’s qualification, Carlos Sainz admitted that Max Verstappen will be superior on Sunday. Given the fact that the latter has a car that is faster in terms of straight-line speed and has a mammoth DRS advantage, it will not be easy to hold him behind.

Furthermore, Verstappen is just a position behind. It is not like the Dutchman is starting from P10 or beyond so that Sainz can think about stretching the lead. However, the Ferrari driver is ready to give his best and win.

In the end, if Sainz manages to pull the unthinkable and take the win against Verstappen, it will not only be a huge boost for both Ferrari and the rest of the grid, but will also end Red Bull’s endless dominance.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
carlos sainz jolyon palmer Max Verstappen

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Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

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