Leclerc, Sainz Can’t Explain Ferrari’s Wet Track Problems in Brazil
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have spoken out about their struggles in the variable weather conditions at the Brazilian Grand Prix.Neither Ferrari driver was able to explain why their cars’ performance in the wet at the Brazilian Grand Prix was not up to the standard of their rivals.
Charles Leclerc improved his qualifying position by one place to finish fifth, but was more than half a minute behind race winner Max Verstappen, who started from 17th.
Carlos Sainz had an even worse weekend. After crashing in qualifying and the race, he tried to move his car while there were stewards trying to save it, and was reprimanded by the stewards for dangerous driving.
The result in Brazil was as gloomy as the weekend’s mood, especially considering Sainz’s victory in Mexico and Leclerc’s success in Austin.
“I have always been a very strong driver in the wet, but for some reason I have never felt good since I tried this car in the wet,” said Sainz.
“I don’t know if we are not transferring energy to the tyres or if we are driving too hard at medium and high speeds. It is clear that the driving is very difficult and unpredictable.”
“I’m pleased Charles managed to come home fifth. I heard he struggled too, so the whole race was a nightmare but hopefully the next races will be dry and we can try to do better.”
Leclerc admitted he was partly responsible for the poor performance but said he was pleased that his fifth place kept Ferrari second behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship.
When asked if he liked the wet or intermediate tyres during the race, the Monegasque driver said: “Absolutely not.”
“I think I’m partly to blame because we decide the settings together with the team. I wanted to go in one direction but it was definitely the wrong direction. We didn’t have the pace even though we weren’t that bad in qualifying.”
“With new tyres and low fuel you can get more out of the car, but in the race we were lost and on top of that it was extremely difficult to drive the car and not make mistakes.”
“Looking at all of this, the only thing we can be a little bit pleased with is being ahead of the two McLarens and only losing four points in the constructors’ standings. We managed to limit the damage in a weekend where they looked very strong.”
Ferrari have been in fine form recently and can win the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2008 if they can catch and overtake McLaren in the final weeks of the season, with Las Vegas leading the way.
“We will endure until the end,” Sainz said
“We have three important weekends ahead of us for the whole team and now we need to refocus, recover and see how we can approach these last three races in the best possible way,” he added.
