P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sainz: 2024 Ferrari F1 car “behaving differently” in the simulator
Ferrari narrowly missed out on second place in the constructors’ standings to Mercedes by three points, trailing far behind title winner Red Bull in terms of points. Although the 2023 car showed promise in qualifying, securing seven pole positions, it lacked race pace and had an unstable rear end. The team made adjustments to address the issue by shifting the set-up towards understeer, but this negatively affected Charles Leclerc. As Ferrari works on developing a new car concept for the 2024 season, Carlos Sainz believes that the model already feels different to drive in the team simulator. However, the true performance and impact on race pace can only be evaluated during testing in Bahrain. In the meantime, the team is focused on improving the car’s performance in the wind tunnel. Sainz emphasized that Ferrari should be willing to sacrifice certain strengths of the SF-23, such as straight-line speed and braking, to close the gap to Red Bull. Additionally, Ferrari is striving to achieve consistency and understand the reasons behind the fluctuating form they experienced in the 2023 campaign.
