Carlos Sainz took the final podium position in the 2024 Austrian GP. He moved up from 5th to 3rd after an incident between Norris and Verstappen. However, he admits that “McLaren and Red Bull are a clear step ahead.”
After a difficult weekend in Canada with a double DNF. Then a tough weekend in Spain, only finishing fifth and sixth. Carlos Sainz and Charles Lelcerc came into Austria hoping to have a return to form.
However, from the beginning of the weekend in Austria, Ferrari found themselves on the back foot yet again. The disappointing sprint race resulted in Sainz finishing fifth. The qualifying soon after resulted in Sainz lining up P4 after Piastri’s track time deletion.
Despite a P4 four start only being the second row, it was a clear signifier that Ferrari was definitely the third fastest car. Losing pace since the Monaco Grand Prix, finally being passed by McLaren.
Sainz admitted this was clear in Austria, saying “I think it’s two normal weekends in a row where McLaren and Red Bull are a clear step ahead of Mercedes and us. And the first Mercedes is always half a tenth in front of the first Ferrari. For me, it’s clear that right now, that’s our position.”
Although Sainz found himself on the Podium, this came from luck more than the pace of the Ferrari beneath him. Ferrari lacked the race pace to challenge the cars ahead in the race, other than a fight with Hamilton at the beginning. Then, he found himself overtaken by Piastri in the final few laps.
Luckily for Sainz, Piastri and Russel, the battle between Norris and Verstappen reached its boiling point, and the two made contact, taking each other out of the race.
The Spaniard admitted the ‘strong’ weekend was the ‘maximum’ they could’ve achieved as a team, especially with the struggles they’ve faced. Similarly, he confessed, “If we want to make a step, we need to focus, obviously, on our weakness, which we’ve already talked about the last few weekends.”
Heading into Silverstone Ferrari and Carlos Sainz will be hoping to make those steps in the right direction. Sainz especially as he still decided on his future, with his 2025 seat yet to be announced.
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