F1 | Sainz: “We have the pace to fight, the details will count”

Going into the test, there was a certain amount of confidence at Ferrari that this weekend could adapt to the peculiarities and strengths of the SF-24. After the first free practice sessions, the drivers remain positive about the car’s potential in Baku, with Carlos Sainz saying he is confident that this Ferrari has the potential to compete for an important result with the other three top teams.

His teammate, Charles Leclerc, in fact finished at the top of the standings, although it is true that the Monegasque completed his best lap when the track had more rubber than his opponents, given that he missed part of the second session due to a problem with the car that delayed all the work. On the other hand, it is also true that the Monegasque’s time should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that after completing that lap, the Ferrari driver himself began his long run without refueling, which suggests that he had a good amount of fuel on board.

Sainz, on the other hand, ended the day in fourth place, about half a second off the top, despite his Friday not being free of problems, due to physical difficulties and the brakes in FP1, which were then replaced for FP2: “I think everyone went long or wide today, it was very difficult to drive on this track, it was very dirty and slippery, several seconds slower than last year,” said the Spaniard, who rightly pointed out how dirty the track still is, so much so that the times in FP2 this year are still over a second slower than those in FP1 last season.

“However, we managed to complete our program even though we had some problems this morning in FP1 with the brakes, but we managed to fix it for FP2. Also, I am not 100% physically with my neck, last night I slept very badly and I struggle to move it, we will see tomorrow.”

Sainz looks ahead to the rest of the weekend with confidence, although he knows how important it will be to be in the right place at the right time, perhaps to take advantage of a slipstream or to avoid a yellow flag, an aspect that has often made the difference in Baku over the years. Today, in fact, there were several long runs and incidents, a sign of the difficulties that all the drivers encountered in putting together a truly 100% clean lap: “No one put together a clean lap. Tomorrow in Q1, Q2 and Q3 with the soft tyres we will see where we are, but we are confident that we have the pace to fight with McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull this weekend. It will be a weekend where we will all be close, where the preparation of the tyre will count a lot, being in the right place at the right time, especially if there are yellow or red flags”.

Finally, it should be noted that Sainz received a warning for impeding Sergio Perez during free practice, which is not a reprimand, but only a warning. In fact, impedings are generally not investigated by the stewards during free practice, unless they are deemed dangerous: in this case, given that the episode occurred in a high-speed zone, the stewards still considered it important to clarify the matter.