Carlos Sainz Jr, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2023

Ferrari “definitely did a very good strategy” in Canada – Sainz

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr praised the efforts of Ferrari’s strategists in the Canadian Grand Prix.

In brief

Ferrari made “right call” on strategy

Sainz started Sunday’s race 11th, one place behind team mate Charles Leclerc, both on the medium tyre compound. The pair finished in the same order in fourth and fifth places after Ferrari opted not to pit during an early Safety Car period.

“We definitely did a very good strategy,” said Sainz. “Staying out with both cars was the right call.”

While most drivers made two pit stops Ferrari gained ground by sticking to a single stop for each of their cars. “The medium was very strong on our car this weekend since Friday and I could maximise the stint on the medium and I felt good on it,” said Sainz.

“We trusted the medium because of FP2 and we committed to it and felt like we’d go long, no problem. It was a nice tyre. The hard, like always in our car, the harder tyres are a bit trickier.”

Red Bull retrieve bird Verstappen hit

The unfortunate bird Max Verstappen struck on his way to victory in Canada was extracted from the front-right corner of his car by a mechanic after the race and pictured on social media.

Sargeant to get Williams update in Austria

After Alexander Albon’s run to seventh place in Williams’ upgraded FW45, the team plan to introduce the same upgrade on Logan Sargeant’s car at the next race, according to team principal James Vowles.

“The update that was on the car this weekend was enormous by standards in Formula 1 and it was the culmination of huge and significant teamwork back in Grove, of hundreds of people really pulling together and working together to deliver the update we have here in the timeframe that we had available to us.

“It’s paid off. Without that upgrade I’m confident that we wouldn’t have the points on the table today and that is really a testament to the dedication the team has to this year’s championship and our future championships.”

Penske struggling on smooth tracks – Newgarden

Newgarden preferred Road America’s old track surface
The new surface at Road America did not suit Penske said Josef Newgarden, who rose from fourth on the grid to finish second in Sunday’s race.

“I’m biased, I’m an old surface fan anywhere we go,” he admitted. “I don’t like new pavement at any track. But it is a different challenge than what you get on an old surface.

“I think as a team we’re not excelling on smooth surfaces, particularly something like this. It’s in our control to make it better. As a team, we’ve got to figure out a better formula for our cars with this type of track.

“This weekend just cemented that for us. We already felt that way at previous tracks. Running through this weekend, the test last week, we definitely confirmed that we have a weakness on these type of surfaces. We knew that going in.

“We knew it was going to be new. I love Road America. I still love it just as much as I loved it in the past.”

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Comment of the day

Did the Canadian Grand Prix indicate Red Bull’s rivals are finally starting to catch them?

It’s possible that the others are starting to properly catch the Red Bull, but I seriously doubt it. I suspect this was just an outlier: either the track wasn’t suiting them on race day, or they were running with the engine dialled well back. Even so, Verstappen was still comfortably in the lead for the whole race and never looked to be in any danger whatsoever. And even then, and with a safety car, he still crossed the line nearly 10s ahead of Alonso.

If the other teams are starting to catch up a bit, I think it’s more likely because Red Bull are already concentrating development on next year. With such a huge advantage, it’s highly unlikely any team will be able to catch them in either the drivers’ or constructors’ championship this year, and they have their development time ‘punishment’ to consider. Even if we reach the end of the season with one or more teams on par with Red Bull, I won’t be at all surprised to see them with a massive advantage at the start of next season again.
@Drmouse

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On this day in motorsport

  • 70 years ago today Juan Manuel Fangio put his Maserati on pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, lapping the original Spa-Francorchamps in four and a half minutes

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “Ferrari “definitely did a very good strategy” in Canada – Sainz”

  1. Red Bull giveth, and Red Bull taketh away, wings.

  2. On COTD, don’t discount the loss in speed due to carrying the dead bird too.

  3. Yellow Baron
    20th June 2023, 2:25

    Here’s a proposal. (Going to try keep is as short as possible)

    F1’s lack of title deciders.
    If I was correct there have only been 5 in the last 15 seasons which is pretty awful. Naturally this has been due to dominance from two teams, as well as some that could not sustain he challenge to the end.
    Now in the last 15 seasons I think only 1 season may have benefitted from a points system that would keep it closer and that would be 2009.
    But I think it’s something that should still be considered and the reading is that the seasons now are just so long that is very tough. Essentially 26 races worth of points currently are on offer during a season which is 30% more than the previous consistent 19 per season

    I would argue its unlikely that we will see title deciders unless things are freakishly close with problems for all contenders. Which remember, includes teams development impacting the title race. 2021 may have gone to the end but it too a resurgence from mercedes car and some bad results for max. So there was some luck involved as well as engine penalties

    The chances of deciders nowadays are just so much lower that steps need to be take and F1 is such that hoping things will converge is a lost cause.

    I’m going to go ahead and suggest that if by 2/3 of the season 1 driver has around 50 points or more of a lead in the championship then there should be some sort of a points reset for the final 8 races.

    This would also stop a dominant team being able to take it easy and shift development to the next year and would mean less chance of one team holding their advantage.

    I definitely see how this second suggestion is quite extreme and has some issues that would need addresses but what else? Forget the teams converging, it’s clearly a lost cause . In seasons with this many races the chances are just too slim.

    F1 title deciders are one of the best things about the sport and for the last two decades or so. We just don’t have enough of them. They are a showcase event and we have only had them less than 50% of the time for over two decades

    Please do discuss

    1. Yellow Baron
      20th June 2023, 2:34

      Also 2021 wasn’t a convergence. Only two teams and two top drivers were close. 2021 was an outlier and a freak season. The rules were changes which aided redbull. I firmly believe we would not have seen the 2021 we saw if those floor changes hadn’t happened.

      I just think that relying on convergence is pointless and that well I miss those final races where the title is on the line.

      Looking back at it 2006 – 2012 was like some golden age in comparison to the following decade.

      Please excuse my bad grammar!

      1. I also don’t trust convergence, unimpressed by the fact mercedes kept dominating all those years until the 2021 rule change.

    2. what else?

      Too many rule based gimmicks makes the results seem random and people generally don’t like that. Even if it’s frustrating to see the same guy win all the time, a ‘deserved’ winner can still be respected. Sometimes only in retrospect by partisan fans of the losing team – but respected nonetheless.

      For there to be competition, the other teams need to step up. Get serious and do better. The rules can help them, and the budget cap is a great tool in the hands of the FIA to do so. Some have suggested that by expanding the budget cap to include more (or all) expenses, the FIA can then loosen the rules because the performance is effectively capped by the inability of the teams to spend more than a certain amount. This would in theory allow a team to off-set a lack of performance on the engine with better aero, or vice versa.

      The main problem with this is that it becomes very tricky to write the rules. Every rule is effectively capping performance in one area, and thereby potentially privileging development in another area. In the most extreme cases, people would max out performance across the board, and you’d be right back to the current situation. If the limitations were very loose this wouldn’t be an issue, but then the FIA risks one team becoming, for example, way too fast on the straight while another would need unique tyres to handle its vastly superior cornering speeds. That concern is part of the reason why they decided to impose certain performance limitations on the Hypercars, so the teams could make their own kind of car with different characteristics, but then have the FIA/ACO sort the competitiveness of all those different solutions out via BoP.

      Another thing would be to stop the teams from having so much say over the rules. Mercedes’ meddling that led to the new floor height regulations is a big contributor to the failure of the 2022-spec cars, which are now much (in relative terms) higher than intended, thereby lessening much of the impact of the floor changes.

  4. And wow, 70 years ago there was already the belgian gp around this time, while nowadays it’s many races away still.

  5. Other teams are also shifting more & more focus on next season, not only RB, especially their closest rivals knowing the budget cap penalty will affect them even more at next season’s beginning, so a balanced impact.

  6. Win at Le Mans! and now an error free GP! Oh Happy Days 😊

    1. I luv chicken
      20th June 2023, 15:51

      Letters of merit, to be given out at the factory, no doubt. Citywide holiday, in Modena.

  7. Thanks for the COTD @keithcollantine

    On Ferrari, it was a rare strategic win for them, following blunders in Qually. I suspect that it comes down to the old saying: Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

    1. Hahahaha, nice.

  8. Electroball76
    20th June 2023, 14:00

    Hey Enrico! This is not a clock, it’s a thermometer!

Comments are closed.