Ferrari’s Sainz Insists He’s Not Slower Than ‘Qualifying Expert’ Leclerc at ‘Any Corner’

The first rival in Formula One will always be your teammate, having equal cars will make it easy for compression. Charles Leclerc had an impressive time which saw him in 4th place at Ferrari’s home Grand Prix at Imola. Carlos Sainz came 11th but feels it won’t be long before he matches his new teammates’ time.

The Spaniard didn’t get the result he wanted in the second outing with the Maranello-based outfit. The 26-year-old only managed to qualify 11th, hence not making it into Q3.

Sainz would hope that he can achieve a better result than what he had achieved at Bahrain. He hopes to extract the most out of the car and aim for a good result at Imola.

Carlos Sainz sets his eye on matching Leclerc

As quoted by Motorsportweek, Saiz stated, “I know he’s [Leclerc] a qualifying expert and, particularly in the Ferrari he seems to be really at home, knowing exactly what to expect from the car when it comes to Q2 and Q3, high grip conditions.”

Sainz further added, “He’s an expert, a very, very good driver but at the same time if there’s something I’ve seen in these first two races, [it] is that I’m not slower than him in any corner.”

“I know that if I put the lap together I can be up there, so it’s now a matter of focusing on how to put those laps together, what does he do and what can I do to get better at putting those laps together.”

“Maybe I just need more time and more experience. Let’s see, but I’m encouraged by what I see on the data, and it’s only a matter of time,” Sainz concluded.

Sainz hasn’t found the true potential of the Ferrari

The Spanish driver didn’t get the result he wanted during Saturday’s qualifying session and will start from 11th place for Sunday’s race. He stated it was just a rough day at the office and aims to find the true power of the Ferrari.

Sainz said, “It was a bad day in the office for me. I felt quick all weekend but always felt like I couldn’t put the lap together. Qualifying exposed it. I was just a bit all over the place, never really being able to put a corner together during the whole lap.”

“I know I could have gone to Q3, but at the same time I think this track has exposed us a bit in that I still lack a bit of mileage, a bit of understanding from the car to exactly know what to expect and how to extract the absolute limit from it,” He concluded.

The 26-year-old will hope that he achieved a better result at Imola on Sunday. In his second race for the Italian team, he aims to push the limits as he zips around the track. Where do you think Carlos will finish in today’s race? Let us know in the comments below.

Read More: ‘This Is Why I Admire Him a Lot’ – Sainz on What Makes Ferrari’s Leclerc Special

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