Ferrari produced an outstanding performance during the Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday as they locked out the front row. Charles Leclerc grabbed pole while teammate Carlos Sainz registered the second-fastest time. Although the Italian outfit were excellent during qualifying, it is the update that Sainz provided after the session that will worry Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
In an interview with DAZN, the Spaniard said, “The track improved a lot for us [Ferrari]. For Max, it improved 2 tenths but for us, it was 8 tenths. Which shows that our car has something we haven’t finished understanding. Sometimes we manage to get a very good gap and get positively surprised but sometimes we get disappointed“.
Ferrari have indeed been inconsistent in the 2023 season as there have been certain circuits where they have been fantastic and then there are others where they have put in an average performance. Carlos Sainz believes that his team need to figure out where they need to improve as the SF-23 has a great amount of untapped potential.
This news does not bode well for Verstappen and Red Bull, who have been a class apart in the 2023 season. Even though the Milton Keynes outfit still have the quickest car, Ferrari can perhaps manage to cover the gap if they are able to understand the SF-23 better.
Horner reveals Red Bull are yet to face the “full impact” of the $7m cost cap penalty
The FIA had imposed a $7 million penalty and a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time on Red Bull after the team exceeded the budget cap in 2021. Although Red Bull have navigated the challenges extremely well this season despite their penalty, team principal Christian Horner yet believes that his side have not faced the “full impact” of the same.
As quoted by racefans.net, the Briton said, “Certainly, you’ve not seen the full impact yet because it obviously has compromised the amount of development that we’ve been able to do this year“. Horner then added how the cost cap penalty did not impact them too much as they kickstarted this season with a bang, which helped them to have more time to focus on next year’s car.
While there is a sense of pessimism in the Red Bull camp, the confidence in the Ferrari team seems to be increasing race by race. Earlier in the 2023 season, Charles Leclerc had explained how he is looking to drive the 2024 Ferrari car, which will be very different from the SF-23.
“With everything we’ve learned so far, it reaffirms that it’s a good choice what we’ve gone for next year. The more we learn, the better it is for doing the last few details for next year’s car,” explained the Monegasque in a conversation with Sky Sports.
Leclerc believes that the rest of the races in the 2023 season will help Ferrari to apply their learnings so far and see if they are able to bring an improvement in performance. While the 26-year-old is confident that these learnings will help Ferrari make a step forward, he is not sure if his team will be able to reach Red Bull’s level.
