F1 Australian GP: Carlos Sainz reveals Ferrari has opted to “take a different approach,” to excel at Melbourne

Carlos Sainz has indicated that Ferrari has got pace to exploit during the 2023 Australian GP.

F1 Australian GP: Carlos Sainz reveals Ferrari has opted to “take a different approach,” to excel at Melbourne

Carlos Sainz (Credits: Planet F1)

Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari F1 driver, has made it known that his team has decided to follow a different approach in Australia compared to the first two races of the 2023 F1 season. Moreover, has also revealed that the decision has been taken with the hope of extracting decent performance from the SF-23 during tomorrow’s all-important Australian GP.

Ferrari was at the pace of Red Bull during qualifying sessions in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia but has fallen down in the pecking order at Albert Park. Carlos Sainz has admitted that it’s part of the plan at Ferrari, and while shedding light on it, he said, “Obviously I cannot go into detail but we’ve decided to obviously take a different approach this weekend trying to improve the race pace, and I’ve no idea if we have done it or not, because the real test comes tomorrow. We’ve definitely changed the car on the set-up, and I’m hoping that it will pay tomorrow.”

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The smooth operator has admitted that the Maranello-based team decided to change the car’s setup for the Australian GP weekend. However, Sainz has made it clear that he does not know for certain whether the change in setup would help in producing strong performance from the SF-23. The car, so far in the season, has looked strong on Saturdays barring Albert Park but has faded drastically when it comes to the main race.

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Carlos Sainz is starting the Australian GP from P5 on the grid, whereas his teammate, Charles Leclerc, will get his race going from P7. The Ferrari duo ideally would have preferred to start a bit higher on the grid, but it is what it is, and they would have to make do with their respective positions. Considering everything, the upcoming race is shaping up to be a must-see event.

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Carlos Sainz feels much more comfortable with the new setup on his car

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz

While Carlos Sainz has admitted to having a new setup on his car for the Australian GP, he has further made it known that he is way more comfortable with it now, in comparison to the setup that was run on his Ferrari in the first two races. While talking about the same, he added, “Yeah, I’m reasonably comfortable. I think we’ve done some good progress with my feeling with the car. We’ve changed quite a lot, the set-up, up and down from yesterday, trying to improve it mainly for the race.”

“But actually, the changes have made me feel a bit better also over one lap. Unfortunate that we couldn’t prove it today, because I lost a couple of tenths in sector one in that final lap that cost me a top three that would have maybe been a boost of motivation for me and the team. But we missed it due to a very poor preparation lap. They told me there were people coming on a fast lap. Some of them were, some not. I cooled down the tyres and it cost me a lot in Turn 1.”

Considering everything that Carlos Sainz has said, it seems the hopes are high in the Ferrari ranks as far as tomorrow’s race is concerned. So far, Ferrari has lacked in race pace and, thus, has been unable to make a strong impression. However, with a new day, comes new opportunities, and it would be up to Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, at Albert Park, to get Ferrari’s 2023 F1 campaign back on track. But would they really be able to do so?

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