F1 | Ferrari, Sainz: "I'm not 100% with the car, we'll have to wait for the races"

Ferrari was one of the particularly eagerly awaited teams in the three days of pre-season testing which took place last weekend on the Sakhir track. The SF21 ran regularly, clocking up kilometers and not showing any reliability problems, especially with the new engine.

Carlos Sainz, discussing what happened in Bahrain, underlined that it is still early to make definitive judgments on the single-seater, admitting, however, that it has not yet reached the limit. This last aspect makes us understand how the Spaniard must continue to work to find that optimal feeling with the car.

"I don't know when I will be 100% with the car, but I think we will have to wait for other races – admitted Sainz, interviewed by Mundo Deportivo – What we are seeing from the car is what we expected. We are happy with what we see and relatively satisfied with the correlation between track and simulation. And now what there is to see is where the others are".

"It is still too early to draw conclusions – continued the Spaniard – AWe have more power than last year. This is good news. What happens is that I'm pretty sure the others have also gained power, both Honda and Mercedes for example, we saw that McLaren has an incredible top speed and we expected that the rest would also take a step forward. And then there's also the rear wing, which takes a lot of speed away from you (use DRS or not) and also the fuel load, which detracts from top speed. Once these variables are adjusted, we will be able to understand a little more where we are in terms of top speed. I don't think we will be the fastest on the straight".

Among the question marks were those relating to specific areas where Ferrari has improved. A question to which Sainz responded in this way: "It's a whole package, you can't expect more engine, drag or aerodynamics. Ultimately it's a whole package trying to improve in the same way. Looking at the simulation data there is no particular part of the car that we paid more attention to. There was a lot to improve and therefore the change had to focus on multiple areas of the car and not just one. This takes time, a lot of knowledge, experience and you have to wait and improve little by little".