F1 – Carlos Sainz admits that the Ferrari she was surprised to be overtaken by Mercedes in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This was obviously because the Scuderia was expecting a better weekend in Jeddah than the season opener in Bahrainbut the Spaniard and teammate Leclerc in the end they finished behind a George Russell e Lewis Hamilton.
Given their struggles with race pace, Sainz acknowledges Ferrari have work to do after losing ground to the Silver Arrows.
“After Friday practice, even before going into the weekend, we thought we had them and we thought we were fast. Even after qualifying, with Charles’ lap, where I think he put in a brilliant lap, I struggled. We thought we would be good in terms of race pace. There is work to be done, with new developments on the way, but unfortunately we need time to deliver them. Until they arrive, that’s the situation. I think in the last stint on the Hard we were the two cars most in trouble. We still have to make some updates.”
Ferrari F1 was “the fourth force” in Jeddah
While Red Bull took another win with a one-two finish in Jeddah, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the podium ahead of Russell and Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively, while Sainz and Leclerc took sixth and seventh. .
Sainz believes this result shows the need for Ferrari to improve.
“I think, right now, we were the fourth fastest car on the track”added the Spaniard. “We have to understand why, we have to improve. There have already been two different tracks where our race pace hasn’t been great, so we know we have some work to do.”