Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr has expressed huge confidence in Ferrari mounting and displacing Red Bull from the top spot as the 2023 Formula 1 season inches closer.
Ferrari started the 2022 season with great intent after having a 1-2 finish in first race of the season in Bahrain after Max Verstappen won his maiden drivers’ championship in the previous season. Both Red Bull drivers suffered reliability issues in the Bahrain GP and would retire from the race. The events in Bahrain made several commentators think 2022 would see a resurgence for Ferrari.
In a twist, Ferrari would suffer their own reliability issues and would have 9 DNFs (Did Not Finish) which would derail the challenges they had prior to the season starting.
“I feel we have chances. I mean, Red Bull has been dominant, but they’ve been dominant without being clearly ahead in pace,” said Sainz, pointing to his pole position – and Ferrari’s front row lock-out – at the late-season United States Grand Prix.
“I don’t feel like we are so far behind in terms of car development and car performance. If you think about it, I was on pole in Austin; we were one-two in quali. It must be that our car is actually not that far from the Red Bull.”
With the appointment of Fred Vasseur as Ferrari’s team principal, it is expected that Ferrari will have a breath of fresh ideas in a season where constructors like Mercedes will want stage a resurgence.
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