Ferrari arrived in Abu Dhabi aiming to reclaim the runner-up spot in the constructors’ standings, a campaign powered by a substantial financial prize and high expectations for a team eager to push Mercedes further down the grid. The plan hinged on a strong drive from Charles Leclerc and precise strategy to optimize tire choices and pit stops. In the end, the result didn’t tilt the balance in Ferrari’s favor. Leclerc secured second place on the podium, while George Russell claimed third and Lewis Hamilton finished ninth. The decisive move was to rely on Carlos Sainz to swing the outcome in Ferrari’s favor, but the strategy and the execution fell short, leaving the Madrid native to retire on the final lap. As a result, the Scuderia lost second place in the standings by a slim margin of three points.
Sainz began from a challenging position, lining up 16th after a troubled Q1. The team attempted a one-stop strategy using hard compound tires, hoping the pace and endurance could deliver, but the plan did not come together. The pit stop sequence was delayed significantly while the Ferrari pit wall waited for the right moment. The first critical decision drifted into the later stages of the race as the second pit stop loomed, and a safety car event that did not materialize complicated the plan further. When the second stop finally occurred, Sainz found himself unable to extract the necessary pace, and the race slipped from his grasp. In the end, the driver concluded the season in a disappointing 18th position after a race-exhausting finish.
“We lost the race in the early stage because of the hard tire,” the driver later reflected. “I could not make progress and the rubber never reached the level we expected. Once we fell out of the points on the opening lap, there was little left to fight for.”
“When the first stint failed and we were outside the points, the only option was to bring out a Safety Car. We were left waiting, hoping for a signal that would help our cause, but it never arrived. We tried something that did not deliver, and we let chance decide our fate instead of taking control”, he added, underscoring how the strategy misjudgment shaped the outcome.
Looking back at the 2023 season, Sainz spoke about an uneven finish that left a sour taste. “The year did not end as I hoped, especially the two races after Las Vegas. They did not go as I expected, and that’s hard to swallow when aiming for top results consistently.” He also pointed to a notable fact: he was the only driver not to claim a race win for Red Bull in Singapore that year, a detail that underlines the broader competitive context surrounding Ferrari’s campaign.
For much of the year, the SF-23’s pace and performance faced persistent scrutiny, with particular focus on the hard compound tire. “We encountered numerous issues with that tire all season long. Whenever we started on hard tires, performance lagged, and this pattern repeated itself”, Sainz remarked. He emphasized the need for a deeper investigation into why Ferrari’s car did not respond to the hard tire in the same way as some rivals. The goal was to understand whether a hardware limitation or a setup choice was at fault, and to identify adjustments that could improve future performance over the duration of a race.
Despite a season that yielded several positive takeaways, the final rounds forced a harsh reckoning. “There are many good things to carry forward from this year, but it is hard to focus on them when the last two races were so challenging and didn’t reflect our potential”, he noted. Looking to the future, Sainz expressed a cautious optimism. “With some rest and a fresh perspective, there will be opportunities to learn from these experiences. I will look for positives and address the areas that need improvement, so next season starts stronger”.