Unlike Red Bull, Carlos Sainz Jr fears the rain tomorrow at Spa
To be competitive on a wet track, you need a car that generates a lot of aerodynamic downforce. On the downside, these settings result in a significant loss in top speed. Thus, McLaren has clearly opted for dry conditions and is crossing their fingers that it won't rain tomorrow.
Carlos Sainz Jr confirmed after qualifying, on Sky Sports F1, that he and his team had opted for settings suited to a dry track.
« If there is one race where I don’t want it to rain, it’s this one. We have a setup with little downforce.
The team was able to test different configurations during the three free practice sessions. After taking the weather forecasts into account, they opted for aggressive setups clearly geared towards a dry track.
« We do not expect it to rain. There is a 50% chance of rain. We tested a setup with heavy aero downforce, but the car wasn’t moving. We were too slow and the aero package didn’t work »
To conclude, he adds:
In order to qualify well, we prioritized the package with little downforce. If it rains tomorrow, … we will be in trouble. But at least we will have tried!
Here are the reasons for McLaren’s radical choice. Let’s hope for them that Zeus does not unleash his wrath over the Ardennes mountains.
