Carlos Sainz praying for rain with Ferrari left “vulnerable” at F1 Hungarian GP

Carlos Sainz believes Ferrari is in a “vulnerable” position at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix after ending Friday practice outside of the top 10.
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari SF-21.
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari SF-21.
© xpbimages.com

Ferrari had urged caution over its chances at the Hungaroring ahead of the weekend despite being tipped to be competitive♉, with the tight and twisty circuit layout expected to play to the strengths of its 2021 F1 car.

Although the team made a positive start with Sainz fourth and teammate Charles Lecl✱erc finishing seventh in opening practice, the pair slipped down to 11th a♊nd 12th and were over a second off the pace by the end of FP2.

"Unfortunately, before coming here we knew we had some weaknesses in our package and in our car,” S🌳ainz said. “We knew in certain corners it was not going to be particularly good. We could prove that today.

“I mean in Monaco we would never be P11, P10 in a practice session and𝔍 today unfortunately as soon as something went in the wrong direction, we found ourselves out of the top 10.

“So it showsꦡ we are a lot more vulnerable in this soಞrt of track.”

Sainz hop𝓀es that the temperatures will cool as expected for the rest of the weekend and added he would be happy if♛ it rained.

"As with an even 𝓰hotter track temperature we went a bit backwards,” he explained. “So something there to analyse, something there t꧙o look into.

“Hopefully by tomorrow there looks like a risk of rain&nbs🌌p;and a bit of cloud coverage and all of a sudden everything can mix up again.”

Asked if he would welcome rain, Sainz replied: “I think I l💮ike it, first of all, and it should help. It shoul🐼d help everyone because the temperatures we were running in today make the Formula 1 cars and tyres very, very on the limit but hopefully a bit more to us, I wish, at least.”

Leclerc, however, was feel🍬ing more optimistic about Ferrar♎i’s chances in Hungary.

“We went through the plan, obviously the trac♚k changed a little bit but apart from that we are quite happy with where we feel in the car for now,” Leclerc said.

“The performance we will see tomorrow in qualifying but the🎃 ⭕feeling is quite good for now. We still have some work to do everything at 100% tomorrow but we are on a good road.”

And unlike his teammate, Leclerc is not wishing for rain: “If the temperature can drop just a little without ha𒊎ving any rain would be perfect for us.”

Read More

Subscribe to our F1 Newsletter