In the post-qualifying analyzes of Sainz and Frederic Vasseur it was underlined that the second set of soft tires that Carlos used in Q2 was the main reason that did not allow him to go beyond the final fifth position.
“Sainz had to use an extra set of tires in Q2”, highlighted Vasseur, and in fact in the Q3 session Carlos used a set of used tires in the first of the two ‘runs’. It’s not the first time this has happened, but it was striking that we both failed to mention that we actually had one last set of soft new Sainz had it.
Of the six trains of new softs that both Sainz and Leclerc maintained on Friday evening, only one was used in the FP3 session. The two Ferrari drivers thus began qualifying with five new sets available.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar
Leclerc used one in Q1, a second in Q2 and two in Q3, keeping a new train for today’s race. Sainz had to use two in Q2, but by giving up the first set in Q3, he too kept a new set in view of the fifty laps scheduled for today.
The question is why Sainz gave up a set of new tires in the crucial session for grid position? At the end of Q2 there was also a radio team from Carlos’s engineer regarding this background: “Carlos, you will start Q3 with a used set”, reiterated Riccardo Adami.
It thus emerged clearly that Ferrari’s strategy was to start the race with a set of new soft tires, a choice already made with Leclerc in Bahrain, where Charles was asked to give up taking to the track for the last ‘run’.
Sainz finished yesterday’s qualifying in fourth position, 0.74s behind Russell and 0.231s behind Alonso, and it cannot be ruled out that an attempt with a new second set could have allowed him to at least overtake the Mercedes. But at the wall of the Scuderia they considered this aspect less important than the possibility of starting with a set of new softs.
Two reasons can be hypothesized behind the choice. The first, possible but unlikely, is that the Ferrari engineers believe the new set is capable of guaranteeing better grip at the start, but in Bahrain Leclerc did not benefit particularly from it.
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Motorsport Images
On the other hand, the hypothesis that the decision is a necessity in view of the first stint of the race after the findings that emerged in Friday’s long-runs seems more plausible. Sainz, who took to the track with the soft tyres, suffered a drop in pace of six tenths after only five laps (from the first, covered in 1’34″964, to 1’35″5 starting from the fifth lap). Problems from which not only Verstappen but also Gasly was immune, also on the track with the softs.
If the 50 laps scheduled for today are not conditioned by the safety car, the race promises to take place with only one stop, and in this perspective it becomes essential to be able to cover from 12 to 15 laps with the set of softs, a distance that Red Bull and Alpine confirmed that they could cover but that Ferrari considered more problematic.
More than a strategic choice, for the Scuderia engineers the decision to keep a set of new softs for the race seems to have been a necessity due to the still non-optimal degradation of the SF-23, a higher priority than that of a better starting position as was the case with Sainz. And from this point of view, being able to start with a set of new tires will ensure that the drivers have greater autonomy before the pit stop.
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