Carlos Sainz Jnr admitted he’s experiencing difficulties with his car’s handling after finishing fifth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race.
His Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc took pole position for the race – his second in as many days as he will also start tomorrow’s grand prix from the front. However Sainz lagged over half a second behind the team’s other car in both this weekend’s qualifying sessions.“I have an explanation why, I clearly don’t feel comfortable and confident,” Sainz said after today’s sprint race. “If I would then I would just be lacking three tenths, half a second per lap. But I clearly don’t have the confidence.”
The reduction of practice to a single hour this weekend, due to the sprint format being used, has made it harder to solve the problem, said Sainz.
“I’m going to need more time after this weekend to really go deeper in the data, because now with this format you just simply don’t have time. You’re going into a quali, into a race into another quali, and it’s impossible to take conclusions or to change anything that would help me for sure get a bit more comfortable.
“When you can change nothing in the car and you cannot really experiment to get yourself comfortable you are in for a difficult weekend like I am at now,” he added.
Sainz said he’s adapted to the car as far as he can. “I’ve done some steps with my driving and changing a few things to try to adapt myself to the balance that I have on the track. But it’s proving to be a very challenging weekend.
“At this point, knowing what the pace is this weekend, it’s more a damage limitation weekend for me than anything else. I’m really struggling out there with confidence, always feeling really on the limit of the rear axle and it’s not a nice feeling to have around Baku.”
Bringing the F1 news from the source
RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters.
By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing.
We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Aston Martin radio messages reveal how “older brother” Alonso helps Stroll
- How slashing practice to a single hour in Baku tripped up F1 teams
- Bottas: “Rapid improvement needed” at Alfa Romeo
- Red Bull could become first team to score 1,000 points in a season
- Aston Martin hoping DRS fix works in Miami after Stroll manages fault in race
Danny (@denny)
29th April 2023, 21:06
They need to put Alex Albon on your seat.
You don’t want accept that Charles is faster and more talented than you, and because of that you make your selfish strategy opinions and costing team points, but your are good protected by Santander and your father and still hanging there.
Ferrari needs to finally show cojones to Carlos and put him in his place.
“That Silverstone affair” still hunting me. Binotto loved your azz, thank God that Fred is not buying bs.