Carlos Sainz’s podium finish at the 2024 F1 season start highlights Ferrari’s potential despite Red Bull’s dominance.
Carlos Sainz kicked off the 2024 F1 season with a podium finish for Ferrari, trailing behind the challenging Red Bulls. The Spanish driver praised such a performance, albeit disappointed for not aiming higher.
“I felt really good here today; the car wasn’t perfect, but it went well. I managed my tires effectively and managed to climb up to the podium and then keep up with the Red Bull, which was a surprise. It’s not where we want to be, but it’s a good start to the season compared to last year,” Sainz noted.
“We had a clear plan, softs then hards. We were more comfortable with the hards; they degraded less and overheated less. I locked up the tires a bit, but once they were working, we could exploit them well.”
Now, Sainz is looking ahead to Jeddah, hoping to compete against Red Bull, while also wary of McLaren. He reminds that the 2024 cars have so far only run in Sakhir.
“We’ll see; it’s the first different circuit we’re going to with these new cars, so it’ll be a surprise. I expect cars like Red Bull and McLaren, which were very strong on fast tracks last year, to be very competitive again.”
Leclerc was “completely stuck”
Charles Leclerc was very frustrated after a brake temperature issue complicated his race. Struggling with a difficult car, the Monegasque had to settle for fourth place and wished to challenge the Red Bulls.
“We were completely stuck the entire race. We had a problem with the brakes, it wouldn’t brake on the right and too much on the left, and I was driving with a ridiculous brake balance. We maximized what we could, but it’s disappointing, we missed an opportunity to score points, and I’m disappointed,” Leclerc lamented to Canal+.
He explained why he quickly yielded to Sainz: “I tried to defend, but honestly, it was very complicated because when I braked, it violently turned right. I did what I could, but the brakes were different each time, and it was hard to stay in control.”
Leclerc believes Red Bull doesn’t have as much of a lead as the race suggested: “They have a nice margin, but I feel they are more beatable than last year. I felt in this race that we were well-prepared, we had set the car up for the race, and I was eager to see what we could do. But we’ll wait for Jeddah.”
Sainz Podium Finish Ferrari F1 2024 Bahrain. Sainz Podium Finish Ferrari F1 2024 Bahrain
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