Carlos Sainz vows upcoming Spanish GP will be best in recent years as Ferrari’s trio of ‘home races’ approaches

Ferrari have started 2023 on the back foot. While their stated goal was to win the championship, now, that looks like a distant dream. Miami was another disappointing weekend, with the drivers finishing P5 and P7. Charles Leclerc’s pace in Baku had been encouraging, but it all didn’t arrive in Miami. While Carlos Sainz looked better, he too would have been hoping for a better result.

The SF-23 is obviously not as competitive as hoped. Since last season’s summer break, the Maranello team have rarely ever looked competitive against Red Bull. But there is some hope that they will at least be able to challenge them soon. They will be bringing upgrades to the next race, Imola, as well as to Barcelona, early next month. It’s hard to see them catching Red Bull with it. But, later on in the season, with RB’s cost cap penalty potentially biting them, Ferrari could have a shot.

It’s being touted that Barcelona is where Ferrari will debut their most significant upgrades yet. So for Sainz, who would already be looking forward to his home race, this is a further incentive to race there. This is quite an important series of races for the team as well – Imola is Ferrari’s home race, Monaco is Leclerc’s home race, and Barcelona, as mentioned, is Sainz’s home race. So, it’s important to do well. At the launch of the Spanish GP, he admitted that Barcelona was always on his mind.

As per MARCA, he further explained: “It’s been good years since 2015 when I made my debut, a lot of improvement and progression and here comes the third with Ferrari, something very special,” Even if Imola and Monaco go first, the home race is the most special, the one you think about the most. I am looking forward to it more than ever because there are more people than ever. It is going to be one of the best Spanish Grand Prix of the last years.”

Read More: Carlos Sainz slams Italian media for ruthless criticism amidst Ferrari’s poor performance

Carlos Sainz: Red Bull’s dominance has turned the Ferrari factory ‘upside down’

At the start of 2022, it seemed destined that Ferrari would take the championship trophy back to Maranello, or at least give a good fight. But that did not happen. In a series of mishaps, including strategic and driver errors, and reliability failures, their title challenge faded away. Then, after the summer break, the car was never competitive enough to even challenge for race wins consistently. Red Bull are top dogs right now, and Ferrari are trying to figure out why that’s the case.

On this, Carlos Sainz said: “There is a lot to understand, we test so many things every weekend. We cross one thing out and we take advantage of another. We still thoroughly analyze with the whole factory what Red Bull is doing that the rest of us are not doing. One hundred percent is being given in Maranello, the factory totally turned upside down. The drivers are exhausted from simulator work and meetings with engineers. Everything is possible.”

He will certainly be hoping that the upgrades Ferrari will bring to the SF-23 soon will help them make a step forward. While winning either championship looks unlikely now, Ferrari could still compete for race wins. Then there’s also the question of P2 – and Mercedes and Aston Martin are giving them pretty stiff competition. The upgrades will certainly help them in this fight, though the championship fight might be fargone now.

In case you missed it:

• “There is a clear dominant team,” Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz accepts Red Bull supremacy but pledges to improve in the upcoming F1 races
• Carlos Sainz blames SF23’s ‘zero flexibility’ and massive tire degradation for his lackluster run at the Miami GP

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