Certainly not a start with flakes for the Ferrari in the new Formula 1 2023 world championship. Charles Leclerc forced to retire due to a reliability problem and Carlos Sainz finished fourth overtaken by an Aston Martin. The Italian team did not expect to win immediately, of course, considering the confirmation of one Red Bull impressive, but the problems encountered on the Sakhir circuit froze everyone.
Reliability and tire degradation the main problems of SF-23 and of Ferrari in general in recent years. Second Carlos Sainzthe shape of the Sakhir track has exposed these defects of the SF-23, suggesting that Sunday’s results are more the result of the circuit than of the car itself.
THE WORDS OF CARLOS SAINZ
“As you saw in my battle with Fernando, which almost cost me a position in favor of Hamilton, as soon as we push this car on these tyres, the degradation starts. It’s clearly our biggest weakness and it’s clear that Red Bull and Aston Martin are doing something with the tires that we don’t fully understand. We have to find him because he is costing us the race. I think we can be competitive in Jeddah because the asphalt allows you to push harder, there’s less degradation. With these machines, we only had one test bed, and that was Bahrain. It’s clear what our problem is in Sakhir, so let’s see in Jeddah, the different asphalt and a front-limited track could help us. I knew Alonso would pass me, he was much faster. He gave me ten seconds, this shows the pace advantage he had: if he hadn’t had the problem at the start, he would have overtaken me much sooner“.