“It’s Ferrari": Carlos Sainz remains defiant over the team's ability to close the gap to Red Bull

Carlos Sainz was defiant that Ferrari will bring in the right developments to turnaround their performance before other midfield teams catch up.

The Spanish driver has faith in his team and its development plans for the 2023 season and is certain their performance will improve.

Asked by Sportskeeda if he was worried other teams could catch up if Ferrari did not turnaround their performance, Carlos Sainz replied:

“No I trust my team, I trust the development plan, I trust the conclusions we are taking, I trust Ferrari. It’s Ferrari and we will develop, it’s just that we have had a tough start to the season, this confirms it. But they alarms need to come up, we just need to do a very good job."

"I haven’t had the best first two races either but as I said I’ve brought the points and now it’s time to do the step up.”

Not worried by a team like Alpine or others catching up to them, Carlos Sainz believes in the team and its ability to be a front runner. The Spanish driver had faith in the team's development plan and felt that weaknesses in their car showing up was important for them to know what to improvise.

He believes Ferrari’s iconic name and history in the sport does not allow him to lose faith in the team. Speaking to on-site media, including Sportskeeda, after the Saudi Arabian GP, the Ferrari driver acknowledged the work cutout for his team over the next few weekends.

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Carlos Sainz believes early struggles have compromised his qualifying performance but remains satisfied with his points finishes

Admitting that his qualifying performance in the first two weekends was not satisfactory, Carlos Sainz believes that he will gain confidence in that area and it will improve as the season progresses. The Ferrari driver revealed that the feeling with the car was satisfactory but it struggled in the dirty air behind other cars.

With an inherent overheating issue with its tires, the SF23 overheats extra while following other cars, according to the Spaniard. Evaluating his own start to the season, Carlos Sainz said:

“I haven’t done two good qualifyings yet, but the feeling with the car is Ok. I think the biggest struggle has been the car in dirty air, the first stint in Bahrain and the first stint here. It’s just very difficult to follow at the moment with this car and as soon as you get in dirty air, we already have over heating on our own."

"We have an overheating problem, and even more higher when we follow a car. So this is probably the main struggle. Otherwise the feeling in free practice is always good and I just haven’t hooked up laps in qualifying yet. But this doesn’t worry me because I know as the season goes on, and as I improve a bit of my feeling, it will come."

"But yeah at least I have stayed relatively consistent in the race. I’m bringing the points even if it’s not the right points. I’m wanting to be on the podium and wanting to be fighting for wins. We are not there yet and until we are there, it’s time to bring the points and get our heads down on the development.”

Trying to round off the weekend with positive takeaways, Carlos Sainz felt that the points finishes were a relief. Although he wished to be fighting for wins and podiums, the Spaniard acknowledged the need for Ferrari to focus on their development to improve in the future and turnaround their early performance niggles.