Given their preparations over the winters, Ferrari was anticipated to engage in a fierce duel in the season opener with Red Bull, but the result yet again came in the favour of the Austrian outfit as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were quick enough to have a comfortable lead in the race. Although the Sakhir circuit proved that Ferrari still suffers from tyres, the Scuderia driver Carlos Sainz remains optimistic about fighting a tough battle against the mighty Red Bull at the Saudi Arabian track.

Reliability troubles played a big part in the Prancing Horse’s failure to compete in the championship last year. The Scuderia is still experiencing dependability concerns, with the pace being the key area of worry for this season. Additionally, the team saw significantly worse tyre deterioration than Red Bull and Aston Martin. Nonetheless, the Prancing Horse may relax a bit as the new SF-23 is better than the F1-75.

Given all of this and the fact that the asphalt in Jeddah is fresher than in Bahrain, Sainz is optimistic that the team will encounter fewer issues. According to the Turkey Motorsport version, the Spaniard said, ” I believe we can be more competitive in Jeddah because the asphalt allows you to push harder, there will be less wear. We have only one example with these vehicles, and that is Bahrain. So we raced these cars here for seven days and our problem in Bahrain is pretty clear.”

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Since Carlos Sainz joined the Scuderia squad in 2021, the group has only gotten better. The Prancing Horse was the sole team to challenge Verstappen and company last year. The Spaniard recently pointed out three areas where the team has improved. Besides, he also stated why his team is lagging behind Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz reveals the real reason behind Ferrari getting outpaced by Red Bull

Charles Leclerc said that Ferrari had been quicker on straightaways after the Bahrain testing, and the GPS data from the Bahrain qualifying supported his assertion. However, Verstappen is saving time in braking zones and at exit turns. Therefore, the team’s primary goal is to overtake the quicker Red Bull.

With Leclerc’s 2.22-second pit stop, the Scuderia also achieved the fastest pit stop at the Bahrain weekend. This prompted Sainz to draw parallels between the car from last year and this one. He noted three areas where the team has improved: straight-line speed, takeoff, and put stop.

The 28-year-old athlete nevertheless believes his squad has improved since last year. But also acknowledges that Red Bull has made a significant improvement to the car’s performance. This has barred Ferrari from passing the Milton Keynes side. He said, “ We’ve made progress in all of these areas compared to last year, so it’s not that we’re getting worse. There’s actually two or three points that we’ve improved. Our weaknesses are the wear of the tyres and the fact that Red Bull is faster than at the end of last year.”

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The teams have adequate time to work on their vehicles after the season’s opening race. In light of that, do you think Ferrari will put up a valiant battle against Verstappen and company in the upcoming race at Jeddah?