Carlos Sainz blames the clutch of the Ferrari at Interlagos

It’s a frustrating weekend for Ferrari in Brazil. After an excellent qualifying session by Charles Leclerc on Friday, the Italian team was supposed to have a car on the front row, alongside Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, had more difficulties and only managed to secure the 8th fastest time. Both drivers faced some challenges during Saturday’s sprint format, but the focus remains on Sunday.

However, nothing happened as planned. Leclerc encountered an electronic and hydraulic issue, forcing him to retire during the formation lap. As for Sainz, clutch problems resulted in two poor starts for him.

Several problems with the car.

The two single-seaters encountered several issues this weekend. First, Leclerc was forced to retire, then Sainz repeatedly complained about problems during the race, especially related to the clutch. On the radio, the Spanish driver notably expressed his desire to throw away the clutch when they returned to Maranello. He then complained about issues with gear shifts on his steering wheel. It was the same thing as on Saturday and for every start I made this weekend, explained the Ferrari driver. I am very disappointed because obviously it cost us some points this weekend. We’ve had a problem since the beginning of the practice sessions. We haven’t really been able to fix and adapt it to the track, and we’ve struggled a lot with the escapes, which is really a shame.

On the garage side, Frédéric Vasseur believes that the problems are not as significant as his driver led to believe. At the first start, he had a bad start, but the second one went better, stated the team director. We need to understand exactly what happened during the first start, but it wasn’t ideal. We had some difficulties with the starts. Of course, if you look at it closely, it’s marginal, but the second one went rather well. Interlagos is also a slightly more challenging circuit because you start with your position uphill.

Sainz spared by the lack of reliability

If he encountered difficulties and a lack of comfort in his car, Carlos Sainz did not have any reliability issues. Unlike his teammate, he was able to complete the 71 race laps. Thank goodness, nothing happened to me, said the 29-year-old driver. It’s a shame because I believe that with Charles in the race, it would have been a great opportunity to gain points on Mercedes. However, the car’s performance was not excellent, so Aston Martin, McLaren, and Red Bull were ahead, and we couldn’t really compete with them. It’s a missed opportunity, I think.

Ferrari is leaving with the eight points earned by Sainz on Sunday. On Saturday, both drivers had earned five points during the sprint.