All the teams in F1, barring Red Bull, have struggled to perform consistently in 2023. However, the most surprising struggle has been that of Ferrari. The Italian outfit has seemingly gone back to its struggling days after just a year of showing promise. The Prancing Horse emerged as a title contender at one point in 2022 but failed to continue delivering at the highest level. Following their string of poor performances this year, F1 expert Ruud Dimmers revealed a surprise flop driver of the year while in conversation with RacingNews365.nl.
The 2023 season has seen Ferrari slip down towards the midfield once again. Their drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, sit 5th and 7th in the driver’s championship, respectively, with a seven-point gap. Having finished second in the constructor’s championship last year, Ferrari is currently in fourth position with 191 points to their name.
Apart from fielding unreliable cars developed under the latest regulations, Ferrari’s biggest hindrance in not being able to improve their situation has been the internal politics at play. Nonetheless, Dimmers believes the team’s biggest flop has been one of their drivers.
Ruud Dimmers labels Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as the ‘flop of the season’
During RacingNews365’s latest podcast, host Joris Mosterdijk asked the panel if they wanted to name the season’s biggest flop. Ruud Dimmers kicked off the answers by naming Carlos Sainz. He didn’t nominate the Spaniard because of his driving but because Dimmers believes Sainz thinks of himself as an important man at Ferrari while his team thinks otherwise.
“I nominate Carlos Sainz. Not even because of the driving, but he is just on his way back to the exit (at Ferrari). Then it is again a team where he sees himself as an important man and his team thinks differently. At Red Bull did he stick with Toro Rosso, then you had Renault and Ferrari is all about Leclerc.”
Another member of the panel, Tom Coronel, further explained why Sainz has been a flop. The Dutch F1 Analyst stated that Sainz’s career has never been special. While people had high hopes for him, the Spaniard could never grow as much as his former teammate Max Verstappen did.
Sainz’s future at Ferrari still a mystery
With his Ferrari contract ending with the 2024 season, Carlos Sainz has been rumored to make a switch to Audi once the team enters F1 in 2026. While the deal is still a pre-contract, the Spaniard might be tempted to make a switch.
Fred Vasseur has put Charles Leclerc’s contract renewal at Ferrari at the top of his agenda for a few weeks.
Leaving that of Carlos Sainz on stand-by for the moment, who at least unofficially does not seem to have taken it very well. pic.twitter.com/aPOQvBkvO9
— Q. (@leclercstyre) July 12, 2023
The primary reason behind the switch could be Ferrari’s preference for Charles Leclerc over him. Strong reports have suggested Ferrari has offered the Monegasque a five-year deal worth $198.5 million while they have made no attempts to reach out to the Sainz with a potential offer.
