Carlos Sainz was chasing Max Verstappen and seemed on his way to steal second place in the Austrian GP when his engine let him down. With the abandonment, it left the already mythical images of the car burning and falling downhill, but there may still be more consequences.
This weekend, ahead of the French GP, Sainz admitted that Ferrari may fit him with a new power unit after the problem at the Red Bull Ring , which would see him lose positions on the starting grid on Sunday.
Asked about the possibility of fitting a new engine to the Paul Ricard, the Spaniard said: “It’s not decided yet. But there is a possibility that we will fit a new engine this weekend, which would mean a penalty. We haven’t made the final decision.”
The #55 did not want to say if it would be better to do it this weekend or the next, at the Hungarian GP, which takes place on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult: “Yes, or no. That’s all.”
After the Austrian GP, Ferrari director Mattia Binotto admitted that Sainz’s problem was very likely to have the same origin as Charles Leclerc’s in Baku, which forced him to take a penalty in Canada.
Going back to what happened two weeks ago, Carlos Sainz lamented the moment of the course in which that KO came: “The team and I had a boost after fighting for the victory in Canada, winning at Silverstone, and fighting for the victory again in Austria and be in the battle in the last races.”
“And I actually put up a lot of points and felt like I was getting my title hopes back. And all of a sudden the zero didn’t come at a very good time. But the good thing is that we can fight to win every race that we go to. That the car It’s super strong and it keeps getting better, every race we keep finding lap times. And there’s still half a season to go, so that’s good news.”
Carlos SainzFerrari
The highest temperatures of the 2022 season are expected for this weekend in France, which will add extra effort to the engine.
The team’s aerodynamic development chief, Diego Tondi , said that will mean “ensuring the power unit and tires perform at their best will be a real challenge”.
“It is up to those working on aerodynamics to take the appropriate countermeasures,” he continued.
“We will be using a medium-high level of body cooling, using the cooling gill openings on the top of the body and working on the brake ducts to maximize cooling of the rims, with the aim of drawing heat away. of the tires”.
“The characteristics of the track mean that we would have done so anyway to contribute as much as possible to tire management, but the hot conditions will make this task even more demanding.”
“Brake-wise, there aren’t any particularly big braking points, so in terms of cooling those components, the race at Paul Ricard is not a concern.
Do you want to read our news before anyone else and for free? Follow us here on our Telegram channel and you won’t miss a thing. All the information, at your fingertips!
