Carlos Sainz has interestingly suggested Ferrari drop some key strengths for their 2024 car. He believes that if the team were to do so, they could produce a car that is “fast everywhere“.
As quoted by it.motorsport.com, the 29-year-old said, “The car has very, very strong points. I think if we want to have a year-round car, maybe we have to give up some of these features to make sure we are fast everywhere, especially in the race“.
Sainz believes that Ferrari’s car has strong straight-line speed, is good on the brakes, and performs well in both 90-degree and short curves. While the SF-23 also was very strong in some areas, yet Ferrari struggled because the car was very inconsistent and lacked performance in other areas.
In stark contrast, Red Bull’s RB19 had the best overall package. It was for this reason that they managed to win 21 out of the 22 races this season. Considering that Red Bull was undoubtedly much better than Ferrari this season, the Prancing Horse will need to make an overhaul if they are to have any chance of closing the gap to the Milton Keynes outfit.
During the same interview, Sainz also explained how the 2024 car felt on the simulator. The Spaniard stated that while the 2024 car behaves differently than the SF-23, Ferrari will not know what to expect until they actually test their car on the race track with 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of fuel and used tires.
Can Carlos Sainz and Ferrari better their performance in 2024?
Although Carlos Sainz’s victory in Singapore meant that Ferrari was the only team other than Red Bull that managed to win a race in 2023, it is not enough for a side of their stature. The Italian outfit continues to be the most successful constructor in F1 with 16 titles. However, their last championship victory came all the way back in 2008.
Since then, it has been Mercedes and Red Bull who have had their own eras of domination. Ferrari will now hope to change that in 2024 by taking a massive step forward. While the Prancing Horse are doing all they can to close the gap to Red Bull at the front, so are their other rivals such as Mercedes and McLaren.
Similarly to Ferrari, both Mercedes and McLaren’s goal also is to discover enough performance to challenge Red Bull for the title next season. Hence, depending on how much performance all these teams find, 2024 could perhaps even have a four-way battle for the title.
