Carlos Sainz reveals 'mentally challenging' Ferrari issues

Carlos Sainz during the Las Vegas Grand Prix — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 News & Gossip

Sainz reveals 'mentally challenging' Ferrari issues

The Ferrari man was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in 2023

Chris Deeley

Monday 11 December 2023 11:57

Carlos Sainz has claimed that Ferrari are stronger operationally than they were when Fred Vasseur joined the team, after the Prancing Horse finished third in the constructors' championship this season - but admitted that their inconsistency is 'mentally challenging'.

Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in 2023, triumphing in Singapore over Lando Norris and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari had become something of a laughing stock among fans in recent seasons for their consistent inconsistency, as well as frequent strategy mistakes and a lack of reliability.

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The Spaniard was speaking to Motorsport.com at the end of a season in which Sainz scored fewer points than in 2022, but retired just once (in Belgium) as opposed to an astonishing six times.

Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix to break Red Bull's dominance

Carlos Sainz finished seventh in the drivers' standings in 2023

The second half of Ferrari's season was a marked improvement on the first

Sainz: Inconsistency is mentally challenging

When asked if he thought his team appear stronger in terms of their operations, he said: "It feels exactly that way also on the inside.

"I think we acknowledge the package we have and now we just put it on track and we try to maximise it every weekend. And I think we are doing a much better job of that.

"It's not easy because it's mentally challenging to understand how in Las Vegas you can out-qualify the Red Bull by three tenths and fight for the win and then go to Brazil and be a second off the race pace. It's almost unbelievable that these swings in performance can happen.

"Now we need to focus on making sure we have more Vegases than Singapores next year."

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Carlos Sainz Fred Vasseur