Red Bull triumphs in the Spanish GP and Max Verstappen is increasingly unattainable. And while Mercedes resurrects and places the Hamilton-Russell double on the podium, Ferrari disappoints once again. The fifth place by Carlos Sainz it’s cold consolation. “I’ve tried them all but this is a difficult circuit, lots of fast corners and we know we’re not strong – said the Spaniard -. We’ve opened a development window and are waiting for tracks where we can go better”.
Leclerc: “We have an incredibly fickle car”
Charles Leclerc’s race was more complicated. The Monegasque started from the pit lane after the qualifying disaster (19th time), but was unable to recover beyond 11th place. The Monegasque has remained out of the points in the Spanish GP now he is seventh in the drivers’ standings with -128 points by the unattainable Verstappen. The team made changes to the SF-23 that didn’t pay off in the race. In fact, Leclerc did not hide his disappointment: “We have to work hard, We have a car of incredible fickleness. In the same race we put the hard tires on twice, in the first stint We are nowhere, in the last one they were fine, but I was driving the same way. In these conditions it is very difficult“. “The problem was the front, especially in the first stint – added the Monegasque driver -. We knew that the most important thing was tire management. We saw the improvements this weekend and we still have a lot to exploit, but it was a very difficult race”.
Vasseur: “We’re too fickle, but the potential is there”
Ferrari team principal, Frederic Vasseur, continue to see the glass as half full. “Speaking of updates, we’ve gone one step further – ha Vasseur a Sky Sport -. Now the most important thing is to separate what went well from what didn’t work. We must not be soft in the analysis, the problems remain, we are too fickle, but the potential is there: at least we managed to stay ahead of the Aston Martins. However, we have outlined the development path in view of the next races”. Ferrari’s redemption, if any, is postponed to the Canadian GP on 18 June.