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Former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor felt that it was 'bizarre' that Ferrari could not repair the fuel system on Carlos Sainz's car during the Qatar GP.
Right before the race, the Scuderia announced that Sainz, who was to start the race at P12, would not be taking part due to an issue with the fuel system on his SF-23. This was sure to bring down the points that the team could have scored in the race, affecting their position in the constructor's standings.
Meanwhile, Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc faced no such issues.
Peter Windsor was rather confused with the issue that the Spaniard faced. PlanetF1 quoted him as saying:
"Before the race Ferrari announced that Carlos Sainz wouldn’t be starting due to what they called a fuel system problem.
"Now this is a 2023, super-complicated, unbelievably-sophisticated Grand Prix car, fuel system problem couldn’t be fixed, Carlos Sainz out of the Grand Prix unable to start… I mean that hasn’t happened for a long time.
"And of course, I’ve been around in Formula 1 for long enough to remember the occasions when fuel pressure problems, fuel metering unit problems, all these things have been solved on the grid and the car got off."
He further added that it was rather odd for Ferrari to not fix the issue on Carlos Sainz's car even before a complete hour of the race. Windsor indicated that there may have been a much more severe issue in the car, which was difficult for them to fix within the given time, and hence, Sainz did not participate.
"Seems bizarre to me that an hour before the race they said that can’t fix this, impossible.
"I can only assume it has something to do with having to get the tank out of the car or something horrendous like that."
Carlos Sainz believes only Ferrari can challenge Red Bull in 2024
Red Bull won the constructor's world championship earlier this year and Max Verstappen won his third consecutive world championship in Qatar. So far this season, only race has not been won by a Red Bull driver, which almost accurately depicts their domination.
Carlos Sainz notably took Ferrari to victory in Singapore earlier this year. He believes that they are the only team that can challenge Red Bull in 2024 as well. The Spaniard said his team has found out the exact issue with the car and will be working on it with a clear goal for the season ahead.
"We know exactly what we are missing. We have been able to understand and identify it. Another thing is the reaction capacity we have to put everything in the car from race one next year," Carlos Sainz said (as quoted by GPFans).
"I think that if there is someone capable of doing it [challenging Red Bull], that is Ferrari. Especially if we have clear objectives and know which direction to go in, if there is any team that has the capacity to react, as has been seen in the past, that is Ferrari."
Ferrari is currently in competition with Mercedes for second place in the constructor's championship.
Only George Russel could finish the race for Mercedes in Qatar after he and teammate Lewis Hamilton made contact during the race. This, and Charles Leclecr's P5 finish, helped third-placed Ferrari reduce the gap to second-placed Mercedes to 28 points.
