Why did Carlos Sainz not use Ferrari’s new rear wing in Montreal?

Why did Carlos Sainz not use Ferrari’s new rear wing in Montreal?

Carlos Sainz in the F1-75 in Canada

By his own admission, Carlos Sainz had a frustrating race in Montreal. He started 3rd and finished second, but that was a rather expected outcome, as Fernando Alonso simply could not keep up with the Ferrari, and on top of that, also had engine issues. While it is a good haul of points, and Carlos Sainz’s third second-place finish this season, it would certainly be disappointing.

Sainz was in the DRS range of Verstappen for a very long time, even till the end. He even had fresher tires, but ultimately, he could not overtake Verstappen. Sainz was unable to get close enough to Verstappen before the straight, as Verstappen was faster in the first two sectors, and this meant that he did not have a feasible overtaking opportunity on the straight.

https://youtu.be/FbPYZcTDskM

In a post-race interview with Sky Sports, Sainz felt that he was the quickest man on track, and had been catching Max Verstappen. He thought that he could have stayed in front of Max Verstappen without the safety car (due to Yuki Tsunoda’s incident) which saw him enter the pits. On why he was unable to overtake Verstappen despite being close on many occasions, Sainz said:

FS Video

“Overtaking out there wasn’t easy with a tailwind down the main straight there was very little slipstream, very little DRS effect and it was very difficult to mount any overtake on the Red Bull. I was close a couple of times and I gave it my maximum.”

It is possible that with the same low-load rear wing that Charles Leclerc had on Sainz might have been able to get closer to Max Verstappen to mount an overtaking attempt, but there were other factors to consider.

Also Read: “Even a safety car can’t stop him,” Max Verstappen puts on a flawless performance to hold off Carlos Sainz challenge; claims maiden Canadian GP victory

Carlos Sainz is supposed to receive the new rear wing in Silverstone

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz

While the rear wing may have given Carlos Sainz more pace, it was not possible for him to receive the upgrade early. The reasoning for this, as given by Mattia Binotto to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, was:

“It was not possible for Carlos to use it, as it had to be mounted in qualifying. If he had crashed, we did not have spare parts. It was a unique piece for Silverstone, but was shipped at the last minute.”

According to Binotto, the rear wing was used on Charles Leclerc’s car because the Monegasque was already starting on the back of the grid, so they were willing to take the risk of starting from the pit lane.

“In the event of an accident, even with minor damage, Carlos would have had to start from the pit lane. Charles, on the other hand, already knew he would start from the back row. We, therefore, took the risk with him.”

Perhaps this was wise, as during qualifying, on his last run, Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari slipped on track into turn 13, which could just as easily have been a crash into the Wall of Champions. On being asked if the new rear wing might have been enough for Sainz to overtake Verstappen, Binotto said:

“I don’t know if he would have been able to overtake Max. That rear wing gave us a few kilometers advantage on the straights. … perhaps it would have been even closer. I do not know.”

Ferrari will now shift focus to Silverstone, where along with the rear wing for Sainz, they are reported to be bringing a big upgrade package. They’ll hope that the upgrades will be enough for them to cut down the lead of 76 points that Red Bull currently has on the top, and get their drivers into the championship fight once again.

Also Read: “I tried to push it in the last corner, but lost 5 tenths and ended up P3,” Carlos Sainz “gutted” after securing second row start for Ferrari

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