F1, Ferrari: Carlos Sainz makes mea culpa for “worst start of the year” in Hungarian GP

The comments and impressions of Carlos Sainz, who went from fourth to sixth position in the 2024 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix due to the worst start of the year

Carlos Sainz, P6 in Hungary
One Ferrari fourth and the other sixth in Hungary, both in qualifying and in the Grand Prix. Unfortunately for Carlos Sainz, the positions at the finish reversed compared to those on the grid. This was due to a poor start, the worst of the season for the Spaniard, which then affected his entire race, starting with tire management. A start that #55 still cannot explain and that blemishes an otherwise perfect weekend.

Carlos Sainz’s comments
“The start didn’t go well and here it matters a lot. I don’t know if it was my fault or if we simply got the clutch settings wrong, causing excessive wheel spin for the grip we had today. I will have to talk about it with the engineers. Today it cost us a lot on a circuit like this,” this was his first comment to the media. “Unfortunately, it was the first bad start of the season and it happened on a circuit where it costs you a lot. We will do a good analysis. One wrong start a season is fine but it’s a shame it happened here.” – the Spanish driver pointed out at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“After the start, the positions were practically frozen, without that start we would have gotten fourth place or the podium, considering Max’s troubled race. I went from P4 to P7 in one corner and from then on I had to use the tires to overtake. When you use the tires too much, you lack some rhythm. This was crucial. It’s a shame because I felt comfortable with the car all weekend. It’s true that today it was a bit more difficult with the balance on high fuel, but the pace in the last stint was a bit better,” continued the Spaniard.

“Where will we be in the second part of the Championship? It depends on the track. There are tracks where we are in the fight, or tracks where we are 20 seconds behind. It is clear that now McLaren is the fastest team and has the strongest car. It was clear that sooner or later they would overtake us in the championship, given the performance of the car, and now we have to see how we can close the gap. Today they were from another planet.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.