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F1 star staunchly defends team after taking aim at Red Bull and Mercedes

Sam Cook Friday 5 January 2024 17:57

Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen in Melbourne

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz has defended the team's under-fire strategists following two seasons of extensive criticism of the Maranello-based outfit's race management skills.

The Spaniard has said that strategy errors were 'far from being' the team's 'biggest problem' in 2023, despite suggesting improvements could be made.

At the end of 2022, Mattia Binotto was replaced in his role as team principal, partly due to errors which had hampered both Charles Leclerc and Sainz from challenging Red Bull more closely in the championship.

Fred Vasseur then took over the reins and, although criticism has focused more on the team's underperforming car, strategy errors still crept in throughout 2023.

Leclerc was, at times, left frustrated with these errors, and the Monegasque driver was unable to claim a single race victory in 2023, despite claiming five pole positions.

Carlos Sainz was the only man to beat Red Bull in a main race in 2023

Mattia Binotto was replaced in his role with Ferrari at the end of 2022

Fred Vasseur has since taken over as team principal, but strategy errors have not been completely eradicated

Ferrari's 2023 woes

Now Sainz, who did manage to claim one victory at the Singapore Grand Prix, has said that Ferrari weren't the only team to have made strategic errors throughout the year.

“I really don’t think we have lost so many points with the strategy this year,” he told Motorsport-Total.

“We didn’t get it right in some races, but it wasn’t our Achilles heel.

“Throughout the 22 races, Mercedes and Red Bull also made strategic mistakes. If we have made more mistakes, then perhaps there is still something to optimize. But it is far from being our biggest problem.

Red Bull Mercedes Ferrari Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Fred Vasseur

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