Ferrari lost valuable ground to Mercedes in the Formula 1 sprint in Qatar and made the wrong tire decision – at least for the sprint. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz tackled the 19 laps on soft tires and paid for it in the final phase, although Ferrari was even on the podium at times.
In the end, Sainz and Leclerc finished sixth and seventh. But because Leclerc violated the track limits too often, he was subsequently given a five-second penalty, which dropped him to twelfth position.
Leclerc himself says that on the soft tires in the sprint “it was just about surviving,” which is also supported by his teammate’s statements. “I could already see graining on the soft tires during the introductory lap,” says Sainz.
Nevertheless, both Ferrari drivers managed a strong start from positions five and six, in which both were able to push past Max Verstappen and Lando Norris and were then in third and fourth.
But the joy didn’t last long: “The tires lasted two laps, and at the end of the race we lost two or three seconds due to the graining,” says Sainz. So not only Verstappen and Norris easily passed again, but also Lewis Hamilton, who all had medium tires.
Last without a safety car?
Ferrari considers itself lucky that the safety car had to be deployed three times. “Luckily there weren’t that many laps of the race, otherwise everyone who started on soft would have finished last,” believes the Spaniard.
Sainz actually thought that the soft would offer an advantage. “We didn’t think the soft would have so many problems. We thought it would give an advantage at the start and then suffer a little – but not three seconds per lap. That was a surprise,” he says.
In addition, the Ferrari driver had a problem with the battery in the first safety car, which was suddenly empty. “Two laps after the safety car I had to fight and had to defend myself. We don’t know why my software drained the battery completely. That’s why I was so weak after the restart,” he says. “We have to look at that.”
In the end, Sainz can live with sixth place: “It’s positive that we ended up in the points even with the wrong decision, even if we lost points to Lewis, who started from pretty far back.”
Leclerc: Soft sprint helps for races
Leclerc, on the other hand, believes the soft in the sprint was the right decision, but for a different reason: “Tomorrow the big points will be scored. When we see how well the mediums worked, I’m glad we didn’t choose them today.” says the Monegasque.
“Today was all about survival, but hopefully the election will help us for the race tomorrow.”
Sainz, on the other hand, still has a new soft because he didn’t get into SQ3 in the shootout. “Maybe I’ll strap it on for a lap, have the start of my life and then come into the pits,” he jokes.
“Apart from that, we still have a new medium, a new hard and two used mediums, which still seem to be in good shape,” says Sainz. “So we still have enough tires at every stop” – even if the FIA should make three pit stops mandatory.