Sainz moved from McLaren to Ferrari for the 2021 season and currently leads his team-mate Charles Leclerc in sixth in the drivers’ standings and has scored three podiums and 112.5 points so far this season.
Sainz qualified second for the Russian Grand Prix last weekend and led the early part of the race before eventually finishing third after well timed the switch to the intermediates during a late rain shower that cost a number of driver seats would have.
While he has scored more points and podium places than Leclerc so far this season, Sainz also suffered falls at a handful of events, including qualifying at the Hungaroring and training sessions in Zandvoort and Monza.
Sainz said the accidents showed he was still uncomfortable with Ferrari’s SF21 car, which led him to focus his approach on building confidence over the weekend in Russia.
“You probably saw from the outside that I am not 100 percent home with the car,” said Sainz.
“I don’t want to bring the falls back, but I’ve never fell in my career. I’m a driver who never pokes it in the wall, but for some reason there have been a couple of accidents that show that I still don’t understand the car 100%.
“[In Sochi] I also made a conscious effort to go through the free practice step by step into qualification and to be really fast when I have to be fast instead of being fast right away in FP1.
“It worked well, it gave me a lot of confidence, I was quick all weekend and felt at home.”
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Sainz always said he would treat 2021 as a year to settle in with Ferrari before his second season at Maranello.
But he drew courage from the fact that Ferrari had seized chances for podium places when they presented themselves after finishing second in Monaco and third in Hungary.
“We used our chances to achieve these three podiums,” said Sainz.
“We’re just maximizing the opportunities we get. It’s a good signal, a signal that the team is performing well under pressure and at the right moments.
“We get the results whenever the opportunity presents itself.”
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