Carlos Sainz says Ferrari's race strategy is a "long way from being their Achilles heel"

Carlos Sainz believes that race strategy is not a weak part for Scuderia Ferrari in F1 and is far from being their "Achilles heel."

Ferrari have recently been under the radar of criticism, especially after the 2022 season, when they lost an ideal opportunity to win the world championship. Despite a very strong start, the reliability of the engine earlier in the season and then the pit strategies remained a weak part for the team. Carlos Sainz, however, feels different.

The Spaniard is adamant that Ferrari's issue is not with the race strategies. He stated that other teams who were battling at the top made strategic errors as well.

"Over the 22 races, Mercedes and Red Bull also made strategic mistakes," Motorsport-Total quoted him as saying. "If we made more mistakes, then maybe there is still something to optimise. But it is a long way from being our Achilles heel."

It was an apparent strategic error with Carlos Sainz's car in the final race of the 2023 season that made him finish out of points. During the final stages of the GP, he was not pitted to a different stint. When asked, the team told him that they were waiting for a safety car.

There were good odds for Ferrari to get ahead of Mercedes in the standings, but with a late pit stop, Sainz finished out of points and the team felt short by three points despite Charles Leclerc's P2 finish.

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Carlos Sainz reveals why Ferrari struggle with strategy during races

Carlos Sainz gave a divergent reason for the Ferrari's struggles during races. He highlighted that the car has a high amount of tire wear, which makes it hard to overcut or undercut with any of the drivers they are racing with.

"With higher tyre wear, you always run the risk of being attacked with an undercut, and you practically can’t try and overcut. This means you have very little room for manoeuvre strategically," Sainz said (via Motorsport-Total).

There was a considerable difference that could be seen between Ferrari and their competitors, with tires that were almost the same lap age. In the 2023 season, however, there were other issues as well. The car was not competitive enough coming in from a high season earlier.

The second half of the season was centered around the Italian outfit's fightback on the grid. With Aston Martin's competitiveness slowly fading, Ferrari had good chances. Carlos Sainz became the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race after taking the flag in Singapore, which significantly helped the team finish third in the championship.