Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz says that Red Bull has done a better job than everybody else and deserves the current success it is enjoying in Formula 1.
After dominating the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain, Red Bull commandingly swept to another 1-2 finish in Saudi Arabia despite Max Verstappen starting down in 15th place.
Although Sainz conceded that it’s bad for the sport that one team is so far ahead, the ex-Red Bull affiliate countered that its current success is merited.
“I’ve never been a fan of being concerned with one team dominating, because if they’ve done such a good job, they deserve it,” he said.
“I mean, I wish it was us. Then I would get really angry if people [were] concerned that we are walking over Formula One.
With the Red Bull RB19 emerging as the class of the field, Verstappen has already acknowledged that the Drivers’ title is likely to be between himself and his team-mate Sergio Perez.
Sainz has appeared to agree with the view of his former Toro Rosso partner by reiterating that car performance has more of an impact in modern-day F1 than the individual behind the wheel.
“Unfortunately this is a car’s sports more than a drivers, we know that makes the difference more,” he added. “Although Red Bull has a very strong line-up if a car is really good all the other drivers can’t do much to stay in that fight.
“But we’ve seen it in the past it’s nothing new. The recovery from Max from 15th proves they’re in a different league.”
Having immediately gone quicker than anybody else by five-tenths in Q1, Verstappen’s qualifying was brought to an abrupt end in the second stage through a driveshaft failure.
Despite the setback, Verstappen was able to comfortably recover to second, while Perez’s winning margin over the nearest non-Red Bull car stood at 20s even with a mid-race Safety car.
Asked if its speed throughout the Saudi Arabia GP weekend was a picture of how dominant Red Bull is at the moment Sainz responded: “I agree, yes. I was honestly not leaving much on the table in the first part of the stint and they are just flying, compared to everyone.”
“The Mercedes and the Aston [Martin] is maybe two or three-tenths today, but Red Bull, beginning of the stint half a second like in quali. And then it opens up because we deg more, even on good tarmac like here.
“For me this only confirms where we need to improve and the Red Bull is really, really dominant right now.”
Ferrari may have slipped to fourth fastest in Jeddah, but Sainz is quietly confident that the upgrades the Italian outfit has in the pipeline should address the weaknesses of its car.
“We know already our performance timings, when they are going to come, our developments,” he said.
“I cannot reveal right now because it wouldn’t be the right thing for my team. But we know when they are coming, what they are targeting, and we know they should help because it’s clear the weaknesses that we have,” the Spaniard added.
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