Scuderia Ferrari was hit with a massive reality check in Saudi Arabia. As per expectations, the Italian team wanted to finish the Jeddah race behind Red Bull, but that hope turned out to be a delusion with a P6 and P7 finish.
The Maranello-based team aimed to finish the Jeddah race behind Red Bull. But in reality, they were the fourth best behind the defending champions, Aston Martin and Mercedes, losing lap times significantly in every lap.
That’s the end for #SaudiArabianGP 🏁⬇️@Carlossainz55 P6@Charles_Leclerc P7 pic.twitter.com/k7cn56kWyw
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 19, 2023
As the Italian team suffered from a poor start to the season again, team driver Carlos Sainz feels they have a mountain to climb to come back from this predicament and be competitive again, as per Auto Motor Und Sport.
With the Milton-Keynes-based team pulling away in every race, the Prancing Horse is failing to match the Silverstone and Brackley teams, on the other hand.
Fred Vasseur called for more potential
The opening race in Bahrain has started on a positive note for Ferrari. Even though the team couldn’t bring in pole positions, the higher-ups were happy with the performance.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur said that the SF-23s were faster in Bahrain and made significant progress. But it was only limited to the first stint on the race.
The challengers lost grip and started losing lap times significantly as soon as the hard tires were put on. Vasseur called in for investigation on this and said the team needs to show more potential throughout the week, not just in the first three-quarters of the event.
Sainz believes the championship is out of reach because of Red Bull
Before the season started, the Prancing Horse was the hot favorite to dethrone Red Bull. However, that is now far from reality. After a disastrous 2022 F1 season, expectations were high in Maranello. The anticipation level reached sky-high with a new boss and an uplifted working environment.
But, the back-to-back poor performance in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia burst the bubble, and the team finds themselves in big trouble now. Given the state of the team and the challenger, Sainz believes the championship is out of reach for them.
He also regards Red Bull as unstoppable after their repeated 1-2 finish in Bahrain and Jeddah and is a favorite for the championship.
