Even though Ferrari seemed to have made a significant improvement in terms of their pace at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, they still struggled to get their strategy right. Following the conclusion of the race, Carlos Sainz explained his frustrations with the team.
The Spaniard believed that his side cost him severely for being selfless and playing the “team game“. Sainz did play the team game well because, at the request of Ferrari, he did not attack his teammate Charles Leclerc despite having more pace.
Your Top 10 points-scorers at the Red Bull Ring 👏#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hcxzWJaB2u
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 2, 2023
While Sainz was content to listen to this team order, he believes that Ferrari worsened his race by making several poor calls. In his post-race interview, he explained how Ferrari’s poor strategy cost him three places and resulted in him having to do all the recovery during the race.
Carlos Sainz is frustrated with Ferrari for costing him a potential podium
Despite starting third on the grid and putting on a strong performance, Carlos Sainz only managed to finish the Austrian Grand Prix in fourth. The Spaniard finished behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who started all the way down in 15th. And this poor result for Sainz came as a result of Ferrari’s poor strategy.
Speaking of the same, a frustrated Sainz told Sky Sports F1 after the race, “The gap went from four-tenths because I was on (Charles’) gearbox to six or seven seconds and three positions lost in that first pit stop. I feel I played the team game, staying behind and being penalized in the way I was with the pit stop, losing a lot of time, and losing the three positions and six seconds with the VSC ending when we could have done something differently frustrated me“.
“Obviously, I felt like I played the team game staying behind”
Carlos Sainz says he was ‘frustrated’ that his result wasn’t better today 😩 pic.twitter.com/NgLt0NcQdx
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 2, 2023
The 28-year-old then added that after losing these three places, the best he could do was to recover as much of the lost ground as quickly as possible. And while Sainz believes he did a good job at that, he still feels Ferrari’s poor strategy had already compromised his race significantly by that point.
Ferrari close the gap to Mercedes and Aston Martin
Even though Ferrari could have potentially secured a double podium with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, they still had an extremely strong weekend with a second and fourth-place finish. And as a result of the same, the Prancing Horse closed down the gap to just 14 points to third-placed Aston Martin and 20 points to second-placed Mercedes.
Grande Charles! 👏 A big team effort! 🤜🤛
#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/j2tIvJFUCP— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 2, 2023
When it comes to the Drivers’ Championship, Leclerc jumped a spot to sixth and now has a two-point advantage over seventh-placed George Russell. On the other hand, even though Sainz continues to be in fifth, he did close down the gap to fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton to 22 points.
If Ferrari continues to put in strong performances such as these and starts to get their strategies right, they could still challenge for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
