Sainz: "Very tricky" for Ferrari to fight for F1 pole or win again this season

Ferrari enjoyed its best weekend since 2019 in Monte Carlo as Charles Leclerc stormed to top spot in qualifying, while Sainz scored his first podium in scarlet red with second on race day.

Sainz expects normal order to be restored when F1 returns to more traditional circuit layouts.

“I think straightforward, just look at the characteristics of the Monaco circuit and look at the ones close to this,” Sainz said after the Monaco GP

“You will not find many, and you will not find that even those circuits you are thinking the same as me doesn’t mean we will be fighting for pole or the podium. Mercedes and Red Bull I believe they still have an advantage on us and it will be very tricky to be finding ourselves fighting for the pole or win. 

“That’s why this weekend is also a bit of a tough one to swallow as you don’t know when the next chance will come, but we need to take pride at the steps forwards and how competitive the car has been this weekend.”

Team boss Mattia Binotto believes Ferrari’s Monaco GP performance shows it is moving in the right direction.

“I think yes there will be circuit, low-speed corners, that we may be competitive but it is not a given, and I think on our side instead of thinking which circuits we will be competitive we are already focused on Baku, the next one, then focused on the following,” Binotto added.

“There is still room of exploiting better the car, we have shown if we prepare better the race weekend we can exploit the weekend. There will be some development coming, not much, but important to show they are working properly. It is step by step, continuous working, and developing in the right direction, and as a team improving. 

“Even tough weekends like this one where we have a failure there is lessons learned and that is the most important.”