Carlos Sainz played down Ferrari’s pace having secured a P4 start during qualifying, with the Spaniard claiming both Red Bull and McLaren have cars better suited to the circuit characteristics of Suzuka.
Speaking after a hard fought Japanese Grand Prix qualifying hour, with the top 8 separated by just over half a second, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz says he is happy with his performance to secure P4 ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Spanish driver believes he extracted the maximum from his SF-24.
When asked about the team’s pace in qualifying, Sainz highlighted the team’s improvement from the last visit to Japan in September last year.
“I think we said it before, coming into the weekend last year I was one second off pole,” Sainz said. “This year I’m half a second, more or less. So I think the step and the progress is there. It’s just more or less probably our bogey track in terms of pure performance. It’s clear that in these sort of long, high speed corners the Red Bull and the McLaren are still faster. A clear step ahead of us.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can fight for the podium. Red Bull are still out of reach but with McLaren hopefully we can get a bit closer in the race.”
When asked about the team’s long run pace during practice, Sainz denied the suggestion that Ferrari showed better high fuel pace than championship leaders Red Bull.
“No. [our long runs] are not better it’s just that we were probably a bit lighter.They always run really really slow on Fridays. It always looks like we’re going to beat them on Sunday and then they pull twenty seconds on us.
“They are always super quick on Sundays and I think they sandbag a bit on the long runs because they know it’s their strength.
“Maybe we’re a bit closer but it’s not like we’re going to find half a second tomorrow in terms of pace.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Grand Prix Sainz predicts most drivers will opt for a two stop strategy, while noting the different weather conditions in comparison to last year’s Grand Prix in September may have an impact on tyre selection.
“I think there’s a few people trying the soft, which in [September] was impossible,” he noted. “This weekend it seems like the soft, if you want to get an advantage at the start and go on an aggressive two stop, is a possibility.
“At the same time, it could be a bit of a risk. Not knowing what’s going to happen with the tyres later. I think we’re in a good position with our tyres. Two stop seems like what everyone’s looking to do. Maybe there’s [someone], like Russell last year, who tries the one, but lets see.”
When asked about the team’s target for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, Sainz replied plainly, with ambitions to get ahead of Norris in the McLaren ahead, but admitting Red Bull are likely out of reach for the Italian marque.
“Yeah,” Sainz replied when asked if McLaren, rather than Red Bull would be the main rival this weekend. “Hopefully, McLaren were out of reach in quali. Two tenths is a lot. You can find half a tenth, a tenth. Between me and everyone behind me is a tenth. When you see someone has two tenths in quali, it’s impossible to beat them.
“Hopefully tomorrow it can balance out. Track position is of course important, but with strategy we can but them under pressure and fight for the podium.”
