In order to succeed, one must believe that one can. Ferrari’s start to the year isn’t what they expected. As the hope for the title challenge was fading, Carlos Sainz has come forward instilling belief in his team. The Spaniard believes the team will overcome the problem holding them back. But what exactly is this problem?

Ferrari finished P6 and P7 at the Saudi Arabian GP. After the horrendous display in Bahrain, the Ferraris were expected to perform better at Jeddah. Ferraris are quick on their outright raw pace but lose time during a race due to tire wear. The long-run pace looks terrible and the races this season suggest they are slower than Red Bull and Aston Martin, being on par or marginally slower than the Mercedes.

The reason for the bad tire wear comes down to the SF23 overheating its tires. It is manageable during one-lap runs, hence the better qualifying performances. But becomes increasingly difficult to manage during the race due to the dirty air from the cars ahead. However, Carlos Sainz has instilled his trust in Ferrari mentioning the team knows exactly what the problem is. The Spaniard trusts his team and believes his team has the ability to improve the car.

According to formulapassion.it, Carlos Sainz said ” We know what the weak points of the car are: we overheat the tires on our own, so imagine yourself behind a car, even more so. This makes the races more complicated, leaves you little flexibility to attack opponents.” further adding “But I trust Ferrari, I trust the fact that we will improve the car and that we have the ability to do so. We know exactly what the problem with the car is.”

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The tire woes are usually down to the balance of the car. If Ferrari has recognized the problem as Sainz claims, it should not take them long before these problems are solved. If the problems are solved quickly, Ferrari can maybe bring the challenge to Red Bull.

Can Ferrari really challenge the Red Bulls?

For a team of Ferrari’s stature and resources, it should not be difficult to overcome the tire wear issues. However, the management aspect has always been an issue at Ferrari. Frederic Vassuer was brought in to take care of these. The Frenchman believes that Ferrari will catch up to the Red Bulls. Vassuer believes in focusing on themselves rather than worrying about Red Bull.

According to Autosport.com, Vassuer said “I think so. We have to continue to push. I think it’s not the right attitude to think about the gap and say, will we be able to close the gap?” when he was asked about whether Red Bulls can be caught. He further added “We have to be focused on ourselves, that we know when we are weak and we have to improve on this one. We will see what is the outcome, when we do a decent step.”

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Do you think Ferrari will be able to catch up to Red Bull this season?