Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz says he is struggling to find rhythm in his SF23 car after qualifying fourth for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was out-qualified by team-mate and polesitter Charles Leclerc for the third time in four races on Friday as he ended up fourth, almost six-tenths off the pace.
It followed a deficit of over five-tenths to the Monegasque in the earlier practice session, so it was a difficult day for Sainz as he endeavoured to get to grips with his car.
READ MORE: Leclerc beats Verstappen for Azerbaijan pole hat-trick
“It was a very tricky afternoon and morning,” he told Sky Sports after qualifying. “Because I was a bit nowhere with my feeling, with the pace of the car – I was just struggling quite a lot.
“When it came to Q3, I already had one set less of new tyres; I was coming from behind really struggling. And it wasn’t a good day for me.
“The worst thing of all is that there is parc ferme [rules in place] and it will be tough to change anything from here onwards. And I will have to find everything within myself, and I will make sure I try to find some rhythm and pace.”
The 28-year-old could not pinpoint exactly where he was losing performance compared to his strong Australian Grand Prix pace four weeks prior.
“Very tricky,” said Sainz. “For me at least, this weekend it’s really tricky but I can also see why the car is performing very well. But compared to Australia, it’s the same car, the same set-up, just for some reason here it feels a bit different.
“I think also Charles around Baku tends to do very good laps, and he’s particularly good on this track. And he’s making the difference, but also personally on my side, I’ve been struggling since I put the car on track today.”
However, Sainz knows he will have opportunities on Saturday and Sunday to turn his weekend around.
“I’ll do my homework,” he explained. “I always try to look to myself and improve and I’ll try to do that tomorrow. But for sure, it’s not going to be easy and it’s the compromise of this sprint format that, it’s you’re comfortable it’s perfect. If you’re not, then you are chasing so we’ll see.”
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