Ferrari Shows Promising Performance in Australian Grand Prix
The 2024 Formula 1 season has been dominated by Red Bull so far, with Max Verstappen taking pole position and winning the first two races. However, Ferrari showed a promising performance in the Australian Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz leading teammate Charles Leclerc to a one-two finish.
Despite not being able to qualify within two tenths of Verstappen, Sainz believes that Ferrari has the potential to challenge Red Bull if they can bring a significant upgrade to their car. He stated, “Our car worked really well this weekend, but it’s going to be tough to keep it up there in every track until we bring an upgrade to close that gap that we saw in Bahrain and Jeddah.”
Sainz also mentioned that the Ferrari felt like a race-winning car from the first lap, and even though Verstappen was on pole, the gap was not out of reach for them. He added, “There will be tracks where we are strong like we saw last year. And this year it seems like our race pace is better even on those tracks that we are stronger. And together with a good development programme, I hope that we can challenge Red Bull more often.”
The Ferrari team has a major upgrade planned for the Imola round in May, with a smaller aerodynamic development to be introduced at the next race in Suzuka. However, they are working to bring it all sooner, potentially as early as the Japanese Grand Prix.
While it’s impossible to know if Ferrari’s Australian GP would have played out the same way without Verstappen’s mechanical issue, both Sainz and Leclerc were encouraged by their long-run performance in practice.
