It’s often said that even the tiniest of details and margins matter in Formula 1. From that perspective, the Las Vegas weekend turned out to be possibly the worst race weekend for Ferrari due to the manhole cover incident that ruined Sunday’s race for Carlos Sainz. After all, the accident was neither Sainz’s nor Ferrari’s fault, yet the team had to pay for what was essentially the result of ignorance on FIA’s part. And one could say that Ferrari lost P2 in the constructors’ championship to Mercedes by a mere 3 points due to that incident.

Ferrari had a very quick car in Las Vegas. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would have locked the front row of the grid and perhaps even won the race if it was not for the 10-place grid penalty that dropped Sainz to P12 for changing the Energy Store. And Sainz just hasn’t been able to let that one go, and maybe even rightly so because it did cost the team valuable points.

Carlos Sainz has never been more frustrated at Formula 1

If you look at the overall season, the Spaniard had a few stand-out moments. Winning in Singapore was one. It made him the only non-Red Bull driver to stand on the top step of the podium. Another was when he defended his podium finish at Monza from his teammate by just 2 tenths of a second. In a recent interview, Sainz shed light on what caused him the most frustration during the season.

When asked about personal highlights, Sainz pointed out securing two consecutive pole positions and finding consistency in the second half of the season. However, he also highlighted the difficulties faced at the beginning of the year during the Bahrain test, where the car’s complexity posed challenges, and races like Australia and Las Vegas, where unforeseen circumstances cost them valuable points.

“The start of the Bahrain test is definitely the start,” Carlos Sainz told Diario AS about the hardest part of the season. “To have seen so early on, from the first three stints we did in testing, that the car was complicated and that it gave us scares. That we didn’t really understand what was happening and what we were missing with respect to Red Bull. And then, as races, Australia [penalized with five seconds that left him without 12 points] and Las Vegas [penalized for changing the battery], I have never been as frustrated and angry with the sport as I was in those two races.“

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While Ferrari continues to struggle to close the gap to the Red Bulls on a Sunday. Carlos Sainz has opened up about the team making steady progress as we head into 2024.

Sainz believes Ferrari has solved its biggest issue in 2023

Ferrari has long been called out for messing it up when it comes to race strategy on Sundays. However, Carlos Sainz is challenging that narrative. According to the Spanish driver, Ferrari has made significant improvements in its strategic decisions in the 2023 season. Sainz emphasized that strategic errors were not the Achilles’ heel for the team, contrary to popular belief.

In an interview with Motorsport-Total, he stated, “I really believe that we didn’t lose that many points this year with the strategy. We didn’t get it right in some races, yes, but it wasn’t our Achilles’ heel.“ Sainz went on to suggest that even top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull faced strategic challenges during the season. He noted, “If we made more mistakes, then maybe there is still something to optimize. But it is a long way away from being our Achilles heel.”

With three seasons under his belt at Ferrari, the 29-year-old driver has gained valuable insights into the team’s strategic operations. According to Sainz, tire wear and race pace are now the primary weaknesses for Ferrari. Despite this shift in focus, he acknowledged that these aspects still influence strategic decisions.

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Looking ahead to 2024, Ferrari is gearing up for a substantial overhaul, with Team boss Frederic Vasseur revealing that 95% of the car will be revamped. Do you think the revamped Ferrari will be better at tire management than SF23? Share your insights down below in the comments.