Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz says the squad has to understand why Red Bull was able to open such an advantage during Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Ferrari and Red Bull have contested the front-running positions throughout 2022 but Red Bull streaked clear around Spa-Francorchamps.
Max Verstappen was fastest in qualifying by over six-tenths of a second and surged through from 14th on the grid to claim victory, while pole sitter Sainz dropped to third, behind Sergio Perez.
“I think we left nothing on the table,” said Sainz of his performance.
“We were just not strong enough compared to them. They were on another planet.
“They were just strong in qualifying, strong in the race, better in tyre management, stronger on the straights, stronger in the corners – some of them. And we were just not quick enough, unfortunately.
“After the strong start that I got, the strong restart of the Safety Car, the gap that I had after the first couple of laps, I felt that I was on for a good opportunity.
“But very quickly, I realised that I went into overheating with a tyres. I was sliding around a lot and it was not going to happen.”
Sainz admitted that Ferrari was not anticipating such a performance gap between the respective teams.
“We are surprised because the gap was certainly much bigger, or the biggest we’ve seen all season across the two teams,” he said. “And it’s certainly something that we didn’t expect.
“It means we need to go back and analyse why, at this sort of track, we are so weak.
“We still need to analyse, take some conclusions and try to come up with a better low downforce package for Monza in case we are not so strong there also.”
