Rather bitter Friday for the Ferrari on that day Spielberg. Sainz e Leclercboth qualified in the Q3 from the Sprint Qualifying they certainly did not obtain the desired results. As for the Spaniard, a fifth place with a huge gap from the pole position obtained as usual Verstappenor half a second, which on a track like the Austrian one can cover in just over a minute and is an eternity.
He did even worse Leclerc: Charles he ended his day in tenth position without having any chance of obtaining a valid time in the last heat due to a problem not yet fully clarified on his SF-24which died in the lane box after activation of the anti-stall. The Monegasque managed to restart after a few seconds, but it was already too late, and he crossed the finish line with the checkered flag already displayed.
Obviously a big disappointment for a single-seater that seems to have absorbed the updates in a negative way, at least this is what the last sessions are telling us, including the weekend Of Barcelona. On the other side we have the usual Verstappen in great dusting followed by a McLaren thirsty for podiums and victories, with Norris second ahead of Plateswhile the Mercedesmore detached, they compete right with the Scuderia Of Maranello: Russell quarto, Hamilton sixth.
Ferrari, Sainz to start from third row in Sprint Race
The Ferrari to be considered better therefore, is that of Sainz. Carlos Since free practice in the morning he had the feeling that something wasn’t going right. Or rather, looking at the times, the SF-24 he struggled quite a bit to keep up with the Mercedesin great shape this morning with the tires Hardcon Hamilton who completed 39 of them compound in the free practice session.
Then in the afternoon the confirmation that something was wrong: McLaren e Red Bull they’re playing a slightly different sport at the moment, and performance-wise they’re not approachable for the Scuderia Of Maranellowhich is called to work hard to try to fill the gap gap meanwhile already in this weekendsince after the Sprint it will be possible to work on the car, and then in the long term, because the feeling, to date, is that the updates are not producing the desired results.
“We have had better afternoons – the Spaniard humbly admits. In Q1 e Q2with the Medium tyres, the feeling with the car was not bad, while in Q3 with the Softs our weak points were highlighted and we only finished in fifth place. The Sprint format still gives us some time to sort out some details for tomorrow, when we hope to have a better qualifying ahead of Sunday’s race. For the Sprint Race Tomorrow morning our goal is to bring home as many points as possible and I think we have the potential to get a good result.”
Ferrari, Leclerc tries to be positive
Yet another bad day for Charles Leclerc: the Monegasque has already been suffering since this morning, a bit like Sainz, of the lack of competitiveness of the single-seater. In the afternoon things went a little better and the gaps narrowed, but taking the Spaniard’s time into consideration, five tenths is truly an enormity, and the feeling at the moment is that this too weekend may be on the defensive as happened to Barcelona.
Well, then, we also have to add what happened during Q3 to the mix: Leclerc come out box on the edge of time running out, like everyone else, but he loses those decisive moments because the car turns off, first going into anti-stall, before then ceasing its activity. Charles he manages to start again after a few seconds, but by then it was too late.
“Not the best way to start this weekend – declares the Monegasque -. We struggled to keep up with the pace of the best in the first two stages of the race Sprint Qualifyingand then when it comes to making the spin in Q3, the engine anti-stall was activated while I was in the pit lane which caused us to lose precious seconds and prevented us from setting a time. Obviously I’m not happy but the weekend is still long. Tomorrow we will try to recover positions in the Sprint Race and then we will start from scratch to best prepare for the qualification and the Gran Award“.
In short, the Ferrari since Canada has had an evident involution, from several points of view. The feeling that even at Spielberg things will not go right is very strong, but at least the possibility of being able to work after the Sprintin view of qualifying and the race, could straighten things out a bit weekend born very badly.
Author: Andrea Bovone
Images: Scuderia Ferrari
