Sainz reveals Ferrari 'homework' failure as F1 title defeat looms

Carlos Sainz feels Ferrari should "have done its homework" earlier in fixing weaknesses in its F1 car ahead of the Abu Dhabi title-decider.

Sainz starts third on the Yas Marina Circuit grid behind the all-McLaren front-row of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Scuderia team-mate Charles Leclerc 20th and last following a grid penalty.

Ferrari must out-score McLaren by 21 points if it wins the race, or by 22 if it does not to steal the title away, but the MCL38 has held a significant pace advantage over the SF-24 throughout the weekend, with the corner types playing to the strengths of the McLaren.

It has been a recurring theme throughout the year that the Ferrari struggles in high-speed, long corners, with Sainz believing that the failure to address this has come back to bite the team, especially with the Qatar and Abu Dhabi races that round out the season featuring such corners.

"We've been three to four-tenths behind all weekend, and so I'll take being two-tenths off in qualifying," Sainz told media including RacingNews365.

"Realistically, once you look in detail at the layout of the track, I understand why they are quite a bit quicker, if the track was long straights and all Turns 6 and 7, then we would be flying around here.

"But unfortunately we have Turns 1 and 9 where the McLaren is a clear step ahead like we saw in Qatar.

"They simply have a better package for the circuit, it is unfortunate that in the last two races, it comes to tracks where the McLaren just has that last tenth, is two-tenths quicker, but at the same time, that is how the season goes. 

"If that is the case, we should have done our homework earlier."

Sainz won't give up

Despite the set-back, Sainz is determined that Ferrari will not give up in its hunt for a first title since 2008 in his final race for the team.

"It was already extremely difficult, it was like I said Mission Impossible already before the weekend, and then we arrived to FP1 and Charles' battery died and the penalty was a huge shock, a huge blow and it made things more difficult," he added.

"But at the same time, it is very likely that even in a perfect weekend where we nailed both laps in Q3 and fight for the win, [the McLarens] are still up there. 

"But until the chequered flag comes down tomorrow, anything can happen and I am going to keep pushing for whatever comes, and Charles will push flat out to get every single point available and then we will see what happens with the McLarens."