"This is not much better" - Ferrari drivers unhappy with track changes to F1 Saudi Arabian GP

Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were not entirely pleased with the marginal modifications made to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit before the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.

The race promoter for the event, the Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC), had previously stated that they would make changes to the track to address the concerns raised by drivers during and after last season's inaugural GP. These changes were mainly planned to remedy the lack of visibility in high-speed corners.

After seeing the changes made to the track, Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were far from pleased. Sainz said:

“I was commenting with Charles [Leclerc] that they just moved the wall, but the driving line will still be close to the wall. It means our visibility doesn’t improve, which for me just shows that we need to keep making this relationship with the FIA tighter, better because we expected a step in the right direction. In my opinion, this is not much better. It is marginally a very small tiny bit, smallest ever better.”

The track has reportedly been moved back at numerous corners by up to 1.5 meters for this. The final turn, Turn 27, has been widened from 10.5 to 12 meters. Reports also indicate a smooth surface has been added to some barriers, allowing drivers to brush them at a higher capacity than last year while avoiding any major damage in the process.

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Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto feels there is no room for error after dominant start to 2022 F1 season

After picking up the maximum number of points possible in the 2022 F1 season-opening Bahrain GP, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has stressed that the team cannot 'make it wrong'.

Speaking to the media after the Scuderia's first one-two finish in F1 since the 2019 Singapore GP, the Italian reiterated the importance of developing the Ferrari F1-75 in the correct manner going forward. Binotto said:

“There is still potential in the car certainly, but we do need to develop the car. When you have a good baseline, and when you are developing, you need to make sure that whatever you’re bringing to the car is a step forward. And that’s even more important now that we got a budget cap. We cannot make it wrong. We will have only a few opportunities of development and, whatever we will do, we need to make sure that those are the proper and the right ones.”

Despite their superlative showing at the Sakhir Circuit, Mattia Binotto still believes Red Bull to be the team to beat in 2022.