Carlos Sainz is concerned about the reliability of Ferrari
It was during the press conference that Carlos Sainz did not hide his concern about the reliability issues that could affect his Ferrari.
Last weekend, Charles Leclerc was forced to retire due to his faulty engine. A real tragedy for the Monegasque, who was comfortably in 3rd position at the time. The breakdown came from the electronic control unit, a part that Ferrari mechanics had previously replaced before the race, after problems were identified beforehand. This breakdown therefore forced Ferrari to equip Leclerc with a third electronic control unit for Jeddah. Already exceeding the allowed quota for the entire season, the reigning vice champion incurred a 10-place penalty on the grid this weekend.
A boring situation that made the second driver of the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz, react: “Of course, we are relatively concerned about this. Having a penalty in only the second race is not how you want to start the season. Breaking the ICU in the first week is something we are unhappy about and consider a weakness. It is the first time we have seen this failure in a very long time, so it caught us a bit by surprise. We are working to fix it, and I am confident that we will be able to resolve this problem fairly quickly.”
A particularly problematic pitfall for the reds, especially considering that, unlike last year, they no longer have a car that allows them to consistently fight for victory. The Maranello team is now in what appears to be a very tight battle with Mercedes and Aston Martin for second place in the constructor’s championship. In such a closely contested hierarchy where every point counts, it is even more vital not to give away free points to their rivals. Following Leclerc’s retirement, Ferrari is currently fourth in the standings, 11 points behind Aston Martin. As a reminder, in 2022, the F1-75 retired on four occasions due to reliability issues, and its drivers received grid penalties three times for changing components of their engine.
An opportunity for Sainz to assert himself
Jeddah is going to be an important race for Carlos Sainz, who, after a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix where the Spaniard failed to keep his compatriot’s Aston Martin behind him, the Madrid native needs to prove to his team that they can rely on him when his garage neighbor is not around. On a circuit where the Ferrari is theoretically more comfortable than in Sakhir, Sainz’s goal is to bring home a large number of points for Maranello and finish ahead of Charles Leclerc. An opportunity, therefore, to regain his form for the former McLaren driver.
