Sainz says Ferrari car development has enabled better race strategy

Carlos Sainz says any impression that Ferrari has made a significant improvement this year on strategy is purely down to its stronger car, having made incremental gains in other areas.

Ferrari has maximized its race weekends so far this season, taking a one-two in Melbourne and finishing third and fourth behind Red Bull in both Bahrain and Japan. In Jeddah, Charles Leclerc was third behind the Red Bulls while Ollie Bearman finished seventh when filling in for the sidelined Sainz, but the Spaniard says the influence of the quality of a car on strategy has been underestimated.

“I think we've made progress on strategy over the last three years, progressively, but if you see a jump this year on strategy, it's purely down to the car,” Sainz said. “Just having a car that allows you to have flexibility on strategy is something that last year we couldn't have.

“So, we were boxed in to stop at certain laps. We couldn't extend. We had so much deg that it looked always like people could extend and then come back on us on a harder tire. Last year, we were just zero flexible and we couldn't do anything without racing. So it looked like we were not getting the strategy right a lot of times.

“But when you have a car that is better on tires, two drivers that can push on the car more often and you have that extra flexibility, your strategy also looks better. And with this, I'm not underestimating the progress we've done, it’s just I really think this helps a lot.”

More Formula 1

After a five week break for F1, rules still head the agenda in Miami

Give drivers a seat at the table when discussing F1's rules - Hamilton

Lapping Miami with Oliver Bearman

Sainz similarly attributes his own strong results to the 2024 car, having finished on the podium in all three races he has participated in this year, including the win in Melbourne.

“We just simply improved the car," he said. "People also might think I'm in a better moment driving and everything, but the reality is just in Formula 1, a car is very important. I'm driving at a high level, but at the same time, having a car that just allows you to go a bit longer, allows you to be a bit closer in dirty air and play around a bit more with strategy, just allows you to shine a bit more.

“That's why it's important in the career of a driver to be in a car [like this], because last year in the races we looked like we were always going backwards, always defending. We were terrible with tire management and that was difficult to do good races. This year, suddenly three races, two podiums, a lot of overtaking, a win. It's a completely different picture.”