F1 News: Ferrari driver claims upgrades could help CHALLENGE Red Bull

Albon, Williams, Sainz, Leclerc, Ferrari, Brazil, 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Ferrari driver claims upgrades could help CHALLENGE Red Bull

Carlos Sainz reveals what Ferrari must do to challenge Red Bull

Originally written by Shay Rogers. This version is a translation.

Tuesday 2 April 2024 16:00

A Ferrari star has revealed what his team must do in order to compete with Red Bull for the world championship in 2024.

The Scuderia have drastically improved this season with a new car design which Carlos Sainz led to victory at the Australian Grand Prix.

Article continues under video

The SF24 is a good platform for the Italian outfit to build on and has the potential to compete with Red Bull on the odd race weekend.

With some strong development, there’s an outside chance that they could challenge for the constructors’ championship if rival second driver Sergio Perez fails to sustain a strong level of performance.

Can Ferrari compete with Red Bull?

“Our car worked really well this weekend,” he said. "But it's going to be tough to keep it up there in every track until we bring an upgrade to close that gap that we saw in Bahrain and Jeddah.

“But around Australia, from lap one, it felt like a race-winning car. And even if Red Bull were also quick and were on pole, that [1min15.915sec pole lap time] in quali wasn't out of reach for us.

“There will be tracks where we are strong like we saw last year. And this year it seems like our race pace is better even on those tracks that we are stronger. And together with a good development programme, I hope that we can challenge Red Bull more often.”

Ferrari’s improved tyre performance in race trim should help fuel more charges towards race victories and give them the ability to follow Red Bull for longer on track.

More push laps could also mean more pole positions for elite qualifier Charles Leclerc – who has shown that he can be just as lightning over one lap as ever so far in 2024.

Red Bull Ferrari Mercedes Carlos Sainz Australian Grand Prix