Carlos Sainz was taken aback by Ferrari’s loss of speed from practice to second in Hungary and said he would welcome rain for Saturday’s qualifying.
Sainz was fourth fastest in FP1 but couldn’t be better than twelfth in FP2 so said it was a “strange” day for Ferrari and went on to explain that the high temperatures are more of a hindrance to them than their rivals.
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“Yeah, it was a little strange,” he said. “I think in FP1 we were pretty happy with how everything went, then FP2 was a bit weird because the car didn’t feel any worse or it didn’t feel particularly bad, it’s just that the others made it to improve. ” .
“As with an even hotter track temperature, we went back a little. Something to analyze. Something to look at. Hopefully tomorrow it looks like there is a risk of rain and some clouds and suddenly everything can get mixed up again,” he added.
Leclerc didn’t go so far as to say he wanted rain, but said cooler temperatures would go a long way
When asked if he would welcome rain, with a 60 percent chance of adverse conditions for Saturday and Sunday, Sainz replied, “I think I like it first of all and it should help. It should help everyone because the temperatures were fine with us are.” Today the Formula 1 cars and tires are very, very pushed to the limit, but hopefully a little more for us, at least I wish. “
The ex-McLaren racing driver added that Ferrari is not expecting a repeat of Leclerc’s Monaco pole and his own Monaco podium as the heat in Hungary has made Scuderia “vulnerable”.
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“Unfortunately we knew before we came here that we had some weaknesses in our package and in our car; we knew that certain corners were not going to be very good. We were able to prove that today; I mean, in Monaco we would never be P11. P10 in a practice session and unfortunately today, as soon as something went in the wrong direction, we found ourselves in the top 10. So that shows that we are much more vulnerable on this type of track, “he added.
As for team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished seventh in FP1 and 11th in FP2, the British Grand Prix podium emphasized that qualifying was the focus – but rain was not on his wish list.
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“We hope to get a little more out of tomorrow’s qualifying because after that it will be quite difficult to overtake,” he said. “So we have to be a little stronger on Saturday, especially this weekend, and that’s why our focus is probably a bit more on Saturday compared to other races.
“I prefer if the temperature could drop a little without it raining, that would be perfect for us,” he added.
Ferrari are just 15 points behind McLaren in a dazzling midfield battle – despite saying before the weekend they expect to be ahead in Hungary.
The post Carlos Sainz prays for rain after Ferrari became “prone” to heating on the “strange” Friday on the Hungaroring first appeared on monter-une-startup.
