Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur explains the Key to Carlos Sainz’s resurgence

Carlos Sainz narrowly clinched pole position ahead of George Russell, with Russell securing P2 by less than a tenth of a second in the Singapore GP.

Carlos Sainz at Monza (Via IMAGO)

Carlos Sainz has significantly improved his performance after having a subpar start to the season. He scored P3 in Ferrari’s home race at the Italian GP, starting on pole and securing the pole position again on Saturday at the Singapore GP. Now Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has highlighted the key factor behind Sainz’s resurgence after the 2023 summer break.

Carlos Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021 after replacing Sebastian Vettel. He has enjoyed two solid seasons with the team, consistently finishing in the top five of the Drivers’ Championship. While he typically trails behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, Sainz has shown his capabilities by outperforming Leclerc in recent races after securing fourth place in Zandvoort and third place in Monza.

Discussing Carlos Sainz’s pole position in the Singapore GP qualifying, Fred Vasseur emphasized that Sainz’s confidence in the SF-23 car has been a crucial factor in his improved performance, especially after finishing in P3 in Monza.

“The extra high confidence after Monza is helping us and from the beginning of the weekend, we are there with Carlos [who] was always the top of the field. From Monza he is there from FP1 and I think he did a very good job with the preparation of the weekend.” said Fred Vasseur, as reported by racingnews365.com

Discover: Fred Vasseur downplays Ferrari’s Singapore GP qualifying success, brands it as ‘nothing special’

Carlos Sainz keeps an eye on the challenge presented by George Russell

Carlos Sainz narrowly clinched pole position ahead of George Russell, with Russell securing P2 by less than a tenth of a second in the Singapore GP qualifying. After a closely contested battle for pole position, Sainz is wary of the challenges George Russell may present to his pole position.

Ferrari SF-23 and Mercedes W14 on track (Credits: Crash.net)

“There is a question mark as it is not like you can learn a lot on Friday, and Mercedes is usually quicker than us in the race. They have a bit of a different strategy with the tyres that we have to keep an eye on, but if I focus on my own race, put together a good first stint and on the Hards, we can still target the win,” said Carlos Sainz.

Carlos Sainz also acknowledged that while they have secured pole position, the team’s weakness lies in race pace. Sainz claimed that the team is aware that they often face challenges during races, but the team has been working hard to understand the package and the car to address this issue.

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Justin P Joy

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Justin P Joy is a Motorsports writer and editor at FirstSportz. He has been a motorsport journalist since 2020 and has published over 4500 articles. Justin has extensively covered two NASCAR, Formula One, and Moto GP seasons for FirstSportz. He has invested more than a decade of his life on Motorsports, first as a fan and later as a dedicated writer. Justin’s in-depth knowledge of Motorsports and his experience as a fan make his writing resonate with most racing fans worldwide. Justin's love for racing started when he discovered Moto GP at the age of 8. That love later guided him into the world of Formula 1. He fell in love with NASCAR after watching Tom Cruise’s “Days of Thunder” and has been an avid follower of the premier stock car racing series since. He has also been investing his time to exploring WEC, WRC, Formula E, Extreme E, and IndyCar in a bid to deeply understand the culture and history of Motorsports to present a unique perspective to the fans.

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