Sainz expects varied Ferrari competitiveness despite strong Canada

Carlos Sainz says he still expects Ferrari’s competitiveness each weekend to vary depending on the circuit, despite the team producing a strong performance in Canada.

After a run of poor races, Ferrari immediately looked much more on the pace at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, prompting Red Bull to be wary of the Scuderia’s threat.

However, a poorly executed qualifying in mixed conditions saw Charles Leclerc fail to make Q3 and Carlos Sainz only wound up eighth, which became 11th with a grid drop.

Despite starting side-by-side down the order, the Ferraris recovered admirably, using a one-stop strategy to come home line as stern in fourth and fifth positions.

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“Yeah a bit upbeat coming from a tough quali yesterday,” Sainz reflected afterwards. “We clearly this weekend had more pace than where we qualified.

“It felt like we would’ve had fun there at the front if we had started a bit more up [the] front. But yeah, solid pace, solid strategy also. We managed to bring home fourth and fifth.”

Asked if he could have battled with the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the podium with a better qualifying, Sainz said: “Yeah, I think it would’ve been a nice fight up there between three different manufacturers.

“So yeah, our bad for not making it better in quali. Obviously, the penalty didn’t help either. But at least we have some positives to look forward [to].”

While Sainz qualified on the front row at his home race in Barcelona, Ferrari’s struggles in race trim continued with the Spaniard dropping to fifth by the chequered flag.

He struggled profusely with tyre degradation, which has been cited as a problematic area that has stymied Ferrari from translating its one-lap pace into race trim.

However, the low degradation and slower-speed corners of the Montreal track enabled the SF-23 to also retain its competitive qualifying edge on longer distance runs.

“I said it, no, after Barcelona, I knew Barcelona was not a good track for us,” he expressed. “I knew Canada was going to be a better track.

“It was confirmed on Friday pace already and today we just confirmed that lower deg circuit, also slower speed corners which we know we are stronger at.

“Today we could show a bit more of our true pace, let’s see how are the higher-speed circuits going back to Austria and Silverstone next.”

As Sainz alluded to, a return to a high-speed configuration of track beckons next with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, followed by Silverstone – the venue of the Spanish driver’s maiden win last year.

After the troubles Ferrari encountered with the high-speed corners in Spain, Sainz is still expecting the Italian outfit’s performances to fluctuate across the upcoming rounds. 

“Yeah I think our pace in Austria will also depend also in the characteristics of the circuit, he assessed. “I think our pace varies a lot depending on that.

“We’ve seen places like Monaco are stronger than places with higher speed corners like Barcelona, we struggle a bit more. I think we will see variance in our competitiveness.”

Although Ferrari outscored both Aston Martin and Mercedes in Canada, the Maranello squad remains in fourth position in the Constructors’ standings.

Meanwhile, Sainz moved above George Russell, who retired with a terminal brake problem in the closing stages, into fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship, with Leclerc seventh, 14 points behind his team-mate