Sainz still seeking ‘perfect launch’ as he adapts to Ferrari F1 start system

Race starts were one of the Spaniard’s strengths during his time at McLaren but he is still looking to get on top of Ferrari’s system to optimise his launches this year.

While Sainz has got up to speed quickly at Ferrari following his winter switch, he admits his getaways remain an area where he can extract even more improvement.

“I was just going through a big data analysis with my engineers 10 minutes ago, trying to understand what I could have done better,” Sainz said after the race in Spain.

“What is clear is that I still need to get a bit better, and a bit more confidence with the start system and the way we operate to get that perfect launch and that perfect first 100 metres.

“I don't think that was the main limitation today; the main limitation was a bit the positioning after that, getting in and out of the slipstream and being boxed in behind [Esteban] Ocon into Turn 1 and losing quite a lot of positions to the cars around the outside.”

Sainz has enjoyed a strong start to life at Ferrari to finish inside the points at three of the opening four races, including a best result to date of fifth place in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

However, Sainz does not feel he has been able to maximise his weekends in order to achieve the “perfect result” like his teammate Charles Leclerc has managed, with the Monegasque twice finishing ‘best of the rest’ in P4.

“It's a combination of factors to get that perfect result like Charles did today,” he added.

“You need to first of all put the weekend completely together, and it comes down to a good qualifying, to make the lap in Q3 – if I would have nailed it [this weekend], I would have started further ahead and it wouldn't have been an issue. And then nailing the start.

“This is what I was particularly good at at McLaren, putting the whole weekend together, and this is what I need to keep on improving as the races go on with this team, to try and be performing at the highest possible level.”