Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert sympathises with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz after his disappointing finish at the Spanish Grand Prix.
In front of his home fans, expectation was high in Barcelona after Sainz qualified in P2 behind Max Verstappen, but struggled for pace as he was surpassed by both Mercedes and another Red Bull driver in Sergio Perez. Sainz eventually crossed the line fifth, and is still yet to secure a podium place in 2023.
Indeed, both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc have had an underwhelming season thus far, with the Italian giants seemingly being overhauled by a resurgent Silver Arrows team, and Aston Martin. But Herbert, who left his role as a Sky pundit last year, has argued there was little the 28-year-old could do given the speed of those around him.
"Unfortunately for him, normally he would have finished on the podium and that would have been a brilliant result for him," he said, on the Lift the Lid podcast. "But he had two Mercs that were going very very quickly and that was then knocking him off that podium.
"I felt sorry for him because he did a good job in qualifying and, in real terms, he would have been third. But now another team has suddenly got it together and he lost out because of that. The car itself hasn't quite got that raw pace. We know they've got the degradation problem and Barcelona is an absolutely awful place for that to be seen but, to finish fifth, he will be disappointed."
He had a better weekend than partner Leclerc mind. The Monegasque man was left fuming at the "weird behaviour" of his car as he only qualified in 19th, failing to get out of Q1, and despite moving up to 11th during the Grand Prix, failed to score a single point.
HAVE YOUR SAY! What's gone wrong at Ferrari? Comment below.
And Herbert thinks his wretched showing was further evidence of the team's issues: "And then Charles wasn't able (to perform), we've seen this before with Ferrari and Charles – when they're a bit further back they can't charge through," he added. "They just get stuck in the pack. When it's a clear track we know they've got degradation problems, and when you follow another car it makes that 10 times worse."
The pressure is now on new Team Principle Fred Vasseur, with Ferrari fourth in the Constructors' standings, a massive 187 points behind Red Bull. Sainz and Leclerc are also only fifth and sixth in the drivers' standings, with any hopes of a title challenge essentially already over.
Vasseur replaced the long-standing Mattia Binotto at the end of the 2022 campaign, who paid the price for a campaign plagued by a series of tactical blunders. But the position of his replacement now already appears tenuous.
