Let’s start with the numbers. Carlos Sainz, who started from second position, obtained fifth place after sixty-six laps of the Spanish Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc, who started from the pit lane, missed the top-10. The scenario hypothesized on the eve of the weekend in which the two SF-23s would have presented themselves in the ‘updated’ version was not this. To surprise, negatively, it’s not so much the 45 seconds that separated Sainz from Verstappen at the finish line, but the 21 remedied by Hamilton, who started at the start behind the Spaniard. And he was surprised, always in the negative, to see Leclerc unable to reach the points zone.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal laughs, he didn’t understand the situation of the Prancing Horse
Photo by: Ferrari
Frederic Vasseur confirmed that he has seen some progress, pointing out that opponents are also progressing, which is probably true. And probably if the SF-23 in Monaco had raced in Barcelona, perhaps the gap would have been even greater, but it is a consideration that clashes with the only thing that matters, namely the final standings.
And the order of arrival has not brought good news. Analyzing Sainz’s race, several aspects emerge that will have to be interpreted upon returning to Maranello, work that adds to the reasons that blocked Leclerc in qualifying, still unknown at the moment.
Carlos’ first stint of the race (completed on the softs) was not bad in terms of pace. In the 14 laps covered, Sainz maintained second position by controlling Hamilton and making up seven seconds from the leader Verstappen. Ferrari’s early pit stop was read as a defense against a possible undercut by Hamilton (arriving in the DRS area), but the fact remains that after Carlos’ stop, Hamilton was able to complete another ten laps, always with the same set of softs mounted at the start. Another question mark is the pace that Ferrari number 55 maintained with the next set of averages.
It was at this stage that Sainz lost much of the final gap. Despite the set of new tyres, the gap compared to Hamilton (who remained on track with the softs) remained unchanged until Lewis’ pit stop on lap 24. With roles reversed, Hamilton (back on track just behind Sainz) exploited the set of new averages, considerably lowering his times and managing to overtake after just three laps. Carlos returned to fast times only after lap 41, when he put on a set of hard tyres, but even in this case the new tire was not able to reduce the gap to Lewis.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Once the #44 Mercedes completed its final pit stop, it was back on track 14 seconds ahead of Sainz, adding another 7 seconds before the checkered flag. In fact there was no story, and even Vasseur admitted that “…in terms of race pace, Red Bull and Mercedes are faster than us”. In the first case, no one expected a different verdict from what was seen on the track, in the second, the hypothetical scenario was different.
The mystery about Scuderia’s Sunday deepens further by analyzing Leclerc’s race. “The hard set of tires mounted by Charles at the start was a sort of nightmare – underlined Vasseur – while he was much happier with the last set (always hard). We need to evaluate the reasons for this inconsistency and it is on this that we will focus before Canada. We will certainly continue to develop the car, but if it’s about tenths of a second in qualifying, in the race right now we need seconds. We have to be able to unlock something in the single-seater if we really want to make the steps forward we need.”
In the end, it matters little how competitive Ferrari is in qualifying if a Mercedes that starts from twelfth is able to get the better of the race. The problem is Sunday, and that is where all energies must be directed.
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