“We shouldn’t have a chance to dominate for a large number of years. The battle for top positions should be closer.” Coming from Lewis Hamilton, this might sound hypocritical, considering the seven-time champion was at the helm of the sport for seven years. But he, like Charles Leclerc, believes Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s domination could continue till the 2026 regulation changes. Joining forces with them was Carlos Sainz, who not only believes that the dominance will continue but also that Red Bull deserves to be at the front.

As a former Red Bull driver, you would think he’s being biased, but that’s not the case. He put himself in Verstappen’s shoes and said, “If my team had done what Red Bull has done, I wouldn’t like Formula 1 to change anything because I think they deserve to be in the position they’re in.” Nevertheless, it’s still domination, and he’s at the receiving end of it. The summer break came at an opportune moment and put a hold on Red Bull’s dominance for a month. As F1 returned to the Dutch GP, Sainz hoped Ferrari would’ve made some ground to close the gap. Well, he quickly realized he set himself up for disappointment.

Carlos Sainz points out Ferrari’s Achilles heel at Zandvoort

Returning from a break, even if it’s just four weeks, leaves a driver feeling rusty. It takes time for them to warm up to their car and the exertion. Considering Circuit Zandvoort’s tricky and challenging nature, it was always going to be a tough weekend for the drivers, even more so for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had to give up his FP1 session to let Ferrari junior driver Robert Shwartzman have a go at driving the SF23, leaving only FP2 for Sainz to get used to the car, featuring a few trips into the gravel. 

After the running, as quoted by f1maximaal.nl, he told the media, “When I got into the car in the afternoon, it wasn’t an easy session. It’s never easy to get back up to speed on a circuit like Zandvoort, but luckily we soon succeeded. Unfortunately, we are not competitive so far. We need to find extra lap time, more downforce, and balance. Today was a tough day for the team.” [Translated by Google] Although his teammate Charles Leclerc was great in the speed traps, Ferrari’s one-lap pace was estimated to be 0.52 seconds behind Red Bull. The race pace doesn’t look much better, either.

Sainz revealed the problem, saying, “If we go to circuits with more downforce, apparently we can’t add as much downforce as some other teams if we switch to the larger rear wings. We have to find out what causes that, so we still have some homework to discover why we slide more than the others on these types of circuits with more downforce.”

Read More: 6 Weeks After Childish Fight, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly Avoid Another Explosion Spoiling FIA’s Plans

Unlike Red Bull, his car isn’t suited to almost every track, and Zandvoort is one of them. Although he knows the challenge that lies ahead to catch up to Verstappen and Red Bull, Sainz knows his time will come eventually.

Carlos Sainz believes Red Bull isn’t “perfect”

F1 drivers want to compete against each other, not just in the midfield or at the back, but also at the front. But Verstappen and Red Bull have been making that difficult lately. Despite being on the receiving end of the battering, Sainz still hopes for a good weekend in Zandvoort. He said, “Today, we didn’t manage to tie the lap together, and I’ve only done one session, so there’s definitely room for improvement. If you look at Hungary (a track similar to Zandvoort), we also had to fight to get to Q3, so we can do it here again like that.” 

This doesn’t mean he isn’t hoping for a surprise involving a Red Bull error. If, and when, that happens, the Spaniard revealed he’ll be ready for the taking. “I don’t fully believe Max is going to win every weekend. Obviously, I know what my chances are, but there’s still a probability that Ferrari can win a race this season and that I can be there to win it,” said Sainz. “I think no one’s perfect. Hopefully, at some point, we’re going to see Red Bull make some mistakes. And I go into every weekend thinking I need to be there to grab it. That’s my mentality.”

Can Carlos Sainz and Ferrari mix all their good elements together and squeeze out a good result at the Dutch GP?

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