Carlos Sainz thinks Ferrari’s recent challenges in Formula 1 could be a consequence of its latest upgrade package triggering problems in high-speed corners.
The Maranello-based outfit has endured two difficult weekends on the trot, where it has found itself behind Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes.
And although the Spaniard managed to secure fourth on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix, he knows that the pace of his SF-24 is being hampered by the same high-speed bouncing that the team struggled with in Spain.
As the team begins to analyse what has happened to its form, having started the year as Red Bull’s closest challenger, Sainz suggests that the upgrade package it delivered in Barcelona may have delivered some unintended consequences.
While it appears to have helped produce more downforce at a certain speed range, Sainz says that may be of little benefit if the team has lost lap time elsewhere.
“I think we see it working in all the places where we have no bouncing, but then if you trigger bouncing in the high-speed and you have to back off, then maybe what you win in some places you lose in the other,” explained Sainz.
“And the more high-speed content there is at a track, obviously that trade goes towards being worse for that circuit because the more high-speed you have, obviously the slower you are.
“It is not ideal, but the team is pushing flat out back at home to try and solve the issue and see how we can come back stronger in Silverstone.”
Sainz said the problems in the high-speed are doubly painful for Ferrari because they are the type of corners where the team struggles against rivals anyway.
“Without going too much into detail, I think it's a combination of we're not good in high-speed corners and, at the same time, we are bouncing which makes our high-speed exaggeratedly slow,” he said.
“So here Turn 7, Turn 9, we lose a tenth from Max in each of the corners, only in one corner and it's very difficult to crawl that back. The rest of the track we are almost equal in the slow speed.
“But we're working already back at home to try and understand this new package and the bouncing that we have with it, and how we can improve it for Silverstone.”
Sainz is under no illusions that Ferrari seems to have fallen back against its rivals, having not really been in the fight at the front for the last few grands prix.
“Very tricky. Very tricky weekend,” he said. “We don't seem like we have nailed recently these last couple of races. We seem to be struggling a little bit.
“We seem definitely to be a step behind Red Bull and McLaren in the fight with Mercedes in the race. In the sprint and in quali, I felt like maybe they had a bit the edge over us, but we did some changes going into quali that made maybe the car faster, but also a bit more on the edge.
“It was very tricky out there to put a lap together. But happy because I think did a decent lap and we are in P4, which if you would have told me before quali, I would have taken it.”
