Sainz: McLaren’s Dutch GP dominance “depressing for all teams”  

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari’s driver, did not hide his dissatisfaction with McLaren’s dominant performance at the recent Dutch Grand Prix. After a strong weekend for the British team, Sainz emphasized that Lando Norris’s performance, in particular, was the main factor behind McLaren’s dominance, which he considered “depressing for all teams,” not just Ferrari.

The Zandvoort weekend started discouragingly for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc qualifying 0.9s off pole position and Sainz being eliminated in Q2. However, the Italian team managed to recover during the race, with Leclerc securing a podium finish and Sainz achieving fifth place—a surprising result given the difficult circumstances.

Sainz pointed out that McLaren’s dominance was largely due to Norris’s consistent performance. “It’s depressing for everyone, not just Ferrari,” said the Spanish driver. “At least we’re not just behind Red Bull… We even managed to pass a Red Bull today and caught up with a McLaren during the race. Lando must have had a very solid weekend. We need to recognize that. Oscar [Piastri] finished fourth, so it’s not like only McLaren was in a different league. I think Lando had a very good weekend.”

Since the Monaco GP, Ferrari has been struggling with the phenomenon of “bouncing,” or porpoising, which affects the car’s balance. As a result, the team has been forced to compromise the car’s setup to avoid the problem, which has hampered their performance in races.

Sainz expressed hope that the updates planned for the upcoming races might finally resolve these issues. “Not very compromised, but a little,” he said about the car’s setup. “I hope that once we unlock or discover what is actually generating this porpoising, we can resolve these issues. I feel like we’re a step behind in understanding it. With the new floor or the new upgrades we’ll bring soon, I hope these problems go away, and we can focus on adding downforce to the car.”

The expectation now is that Ferrari will be able to improve their performance in the upcoming races, with the new updates promising to solve the porpoising issue and allow the team to focus on maximizing the car’s grip and pace. However, McLaren’s dominance at Zandvoort made it clear that, for Sainz and Ferrari, the path to catching the leaders remains long and challenging.