Carlos Sainz has been one of the top contenders to take the fight to Red Bull, becoming the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix winner in the past year or so. It took him only three races to stop Max Verstappen’s dominance in 2024, as the Spaniard won the Australian GP. This victory gave some hope that Ferrari could match and beat Red Bull this season. However, Sainz has now revealed that the Austrian outfit will still hold their advantage for at least the first third of this season. So, he believes that even if the Scuderia can match them later, it could be too late in the championship context.
“I think they are definitely going to have an advantage in the first third of the season until we bring one or two upgrades that makes us fight them more consistently.” , said Sainz, according to RaceFans.net.
The Spaniard was hinting towards the upgrades Ferrari is planning for the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola in May of this year. Being one of its home races, Imola would be the perfect venue for the Italian team to field its upgrades on the SF-24 which has made a great step forward in performance over the winter.
However, Sainz further added, that by the time they roll out their upgrades at Imola and they show their efficacy in later races, it may be too late. He stated how Red Bull’s “advantage” on performance could help them to create a stronghold on the championship that could be too difficult to break for Ferrari.
Currently, the championship is very closely placed with the Scuderia only 21 points off Red Bull in the constructors after the Japanese GP. Although, on ultimate pace, the Austrian team have a decent gap to extend this points gap and keep Ferrari at bay, playing catch up for the rest of the year. Max Verstappen has done so in the last two seasons and looks set to continue the same in 2024 too.
Ferrari are so close yet so far to Red Bull in 2024
Right from the first race in 2024, Ferrari have looked as the closest likely challenger to Red Bull’s supreme dominance. They have been on the podium at every round so far and even won the race in Australia where the Bulls faltered with reliability issues for Max Verstappen.
So, while the Scarlet red cars have been right on the gearbox of the RB20s, the Maranello team knows there is still a huge deficit to their ultimate performance. In qualifying, Verstappen and Sergio Perez are managing to maintain at least two to three-tenths of an advantage. Meanwhile, this pace deficit increases in race trim, as was evident in the Japanese GP, with Carlos Sainz finishing in P3, 20 seconds behind Verstappen who won the race.
Regardless, there are positive noises coming out of the Ferrari camp on the potential of the SF-24. Having won one of the first 4 races, they feel they can win more and challenge Red Bull in the rest of this season, with upgrades to come on their reliable quick car.
It would be worth watching how Ferrari’s Imola upgrades perform in the European leg of races and if they can close the gap to the Austrian team.
