Former F1 Engineer Considers Carlos Sainz’s Misfortune to Be Pivotal Reason Behind Mercedes’ Survival at P2 in Standings

Despite being the only constructor to register a non-Red Bull win in 2023, Ferrari failed to secure the runner-up position. Mercedes, on the other hand, made a slow but steady recovery after adopting a completely new concept in the middle of the season. Former Technical Director for Jordan, Gary Anderson, believes the Silver Arrows got lucky because of Carlos Sainz’s misfortune in Las Vegas.

In a recent episode of The Race F1 Podcast, Anderson said, “They (Ferrari) would have been ahead of Mercedes if it hadn’t been for the manhole cover in Vegas and [Charles] Leclerc’s crash in Brazil. They lost a lot of points that they shouldn’t have lost. So, they should have been in a better position, but they weren’t.”

Ferrari introduced a slew of changes to the car during the mid-season break. The upgrade package reaped positive results throughout the remainder of the season. However, Ferrari continued to suffer due to a number of unfortunate events

Sainz’s massive shunt in Vegas was one of those. As a result, the Spaniard had a great deal of damage to his car when an abnormally high manhole cover hit the underbelly of his car. The incident happened during FP1 and Ferrari engineers had to work extensively on the car to get it back into working condition.

A change of some crucial spares meant that Sainz had to take a 10-place grid penalty. This decision from the stewards angered team principal Frederic Vasseur, who threatened to pull out of the race. The team boss raised the issue of repair costs, which could see them exceed the budget cap.

However, the FIA paid no heed to the concern, but Ferrari managed to get the car ready in time. While it damaged their bid to challenge Mercedes for P2 in the standings, there was a silver lining in misery.

Ferrari benefits despite the defeat to Mercedes

Thanks to FIA’s efforts to level the playing field, Ferrari will benefit in the battle against Mercedes in 2024. Owing to the CFD regulations, the Maranello-based outfit will get higher wind tunnel time allocation over the Silver Arrows since they finished lower in the championship.

That is an advantage that, if played wisely, can help Ferrari gain an edge in developing their cars better than their adversaries. Moreover, their triumph over Red Bull in Singapore is a testament to the fact that they are treading in the right direction.

The gap to Red Bull, however, still remains significant for Ferrari. To decrease the gap, Vasseur revealed an overhaul plan that involves using 95% new parts on the 2024 car. Toto Wolff too made similar claims about Mercedes going down a different path in the development of the W15.

Las Vegas F1 Practice session 1 was stopped after Carlos Sainz of Team Ferrari hit what appears to be some type of manhole cover that surfaced during practice. The impact did serious damage to Sainz’ car and had stewards looking over the damage. #Formula1 #LasVegasGrandPrix pic.twitter.com/Bfz41HPEsb

— Gerald Contreras (@gerald605) November 17, 2023

However, Ferrari and Mercedes are not the only challengers to Red Bull. McLaren, through its magical stride in 2023, revealed a better understanding of the concept than any other team after Red Bull last season.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s combined nine podium finishes have given McLaren the confidence to set ambitious goals for 2024. That includes fighting for the top spot.

Therefore, Ferrari has an added challenge to overcome. While the external threats are intimidating enough, it’s the unforced errors they need to fight better.

Anderson spelled out the erroneous calls made throughout the season that let Ferrari down. Unless they are able to overcome those, any amount of upgrades are unlikely to help them win the championship.