Carlos Sainz is hoping Ferrari will be as competitive at the Italian Grand Prix as it was last term despite going in an “opposite” direction with its Formula 1 car concept.
Ferrari has come into this weekend eager to attain a headline result on home soil amid a challenging run which has seen its nascent championship challenge unravel.
The marque has not been in the position to win a race since introducing updates in Spain which induced bouncing that has cost it up to three months in development.
However, Ferrari sustained a productive weekend on home soil 12 months ago, as Sainz snatched pole position and came home third behind the dominant Red Bulls.
Ferrari has overhauled its car concept over the winter since that weekend, though, with the SF-24 not as potent over one lap compared to its recalcitrant predecessor.
Sainz harbours hope that Ferrari’s choice to make drastic revisions to be more competitive in race trim will not prevent the team from being competitive this weekend.
“I hope it remains there, because in Spa we were not bad, we were relatively OK, in line with all the other weekends, recent weekends,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“So hopefully there’s still a strength there this year. And yeah, it’s a good point about race to quali, it’s almost the opposite to last year.
“I think we know that was our intent, so at least the car has done what we wanted it to do, from last year to this year, so whether we’ve overdone it, that’s a different discussion.”
Reflecting on his exploits in Monza and Singapore – the sole non-Red Bull win last term – Sainz has denied those two weekends represent his strongest with Ferrari.
“I don’t know if they were my strongest performances, I think they were the most visible, because it’s when you have the fastest car and you can show yourself a bit more
“But I have in the back of my memory weekends where I’ve performed at a really high level, almost equal to Monza and Singapore, but you don’t see it or you don’t appreciate it as much, because if you are maybe P5 instead of P1 on the grid, instead of P3 or P1 in the race, P6 or P4 in the race.
“So that’s relative to how fast the car is also, like I was saying before.
“Yeah, I’m always being optimistic, realistic before the weekend, and I have good memories of here last year.
“So I want to be optimistic that this year might be a bit more difficult to put it on pole or to win, but that we can have a strong weekend is 100% in the back of my mind.”
The Spaniard has conceded that his optimism on Ferrari’s prospects on home soil must be tempered by the realisation that it hasn’t been the fastest in recent events.
“Obviously my realistic mind tells me that we haven’t been the fastest team and the fastest car since Monaco, that’s me being realistic, being optimistic, yes, this is true,” he said.
“But we were strong in the race in Zandvoort, and we were strong here last year, that’s why I’m optimistic, but realistic also is what I said before.”
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