Carlos Sainz has revealed that he is extremely confident that Ferrari can fight Red Bull for the title in 2024. The Spaniard believes that although Ferrari finished P3 in the championship this season, the team knows where they need to improve to be able to challenge the Milton Keynes outfit.
As quoted by racefans.net, he said, “I think it has to be our realistic aim, yes. Will we manage to do it? Only time will tell. But I want the team to be thinking that is possible because I believe it is“.
Challenging Red Bull in 2024 will indeed be a tall order for any team considering the dominance they showcased in 2023. The team from Milton Keynes won a record 21 out of the 22 races, with Max Verstappen winning 19 himself.
Sainz is more than aware of what it will take to beat Red Bull, having been the only driver other than Verstappen or Sergio Perez to have won a race in 2023. During the same interview, the 29-year-old then made a reference to McLaren to explain how Ferrari can make a similar level of progress heading into 2024.
“McLaren has been able to do these steps during the season. I’m perfectly confident that Ferrari can do it over a winter break. I trust this team. I trust the capacity that we have back at home to turn things around. There are still circuits where we are on pole by three-tenths to a Red Bull. It’s just that is a very specific trait of the car that really is good. We just need to make it an all-rounder,” Carlos Sainz explained.
McLaren did indeed have a remarkable turnaround in 2023
At the start of the 2023 season, McLaren arguably had the slowest car on the grid. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fighting extremely hard just to get into the points.
However, after a few races, the team from Woking brought an upgrade to their MCL60 that worked wonders. McLaren suddenly discovered a huge amount of pace in the high-speed corners. As a result, the team suddenly had arguably the second-quickest car on the grid, only behind Red Bull.
Both Lando Norris (7) and Oscar Piastri (2) showcased the potential of the car as they managed to register a total of nine podiums over the course of the campaign. Now, the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes will hope that they can bring a similar level of upgrade to their respective cars over the winter break to challenge Red Bull for the title in 2024.
