After a hard-fought qualifying in Imola on Saturday, Sainz just missed the top 10 result and finished 11th for Ferrari.
The Spaniard was disappointed after being six hundredths of a second behind a place in the third quarter, despite setting less than half a second less than the overall fastest time of the session.
Sainz called it a “bad day at the office” but it turned out that after just a day and a half of testing and a Grand Prix weekend in the SF21, he needs even more time to familiarize himself with Ferrari cars.
“I honestly felt fast the whole weekend, but I always had the feeling that I couldn’t put the lap together and qualifying exposed it,” said Sainz.
“I was just a little bit everywhere and I never really collapsed the whole corner for the whole lap. Although I felt quick in the corners I could nail, I just couldn’t put it together.”
“So I’m disappointed because I know there was a lap time when I do a good job. I know I could have gone through [to] Q3.
“But at the same time I think that this track exposed us a bit because I still lack a little mileage, a little understanding of the car to know exactly what to expect and how to get the absolute limit.” from that.”
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Sainz felt he could have won a couple tenths on his final Q2 lap, which would comfortably have dragged him into the final phase of qualifying to prove how tight the field is in F1 this year.
“It’s tight out there and every tenth counts,” said Sainz.
“But I know I left two or three tenths on the table today, just by my own resources and my own brake balance problems, and failed to get the balance I wanted together on every corner.
“But at the same time it’s early in the season. I’ve done very small laps with this car and still have to learn. I’m going through a learning curve and will try to improve myself.”
While Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, Sainz has to fight his way back into the points on Sunday.
But he was optimistic about his chances and had more confidence in his race pace than over a lap.
“I’m always a bit of a Sunday driver,” said Sainz. “I always like to do a better job on Sunday. I’m pretty confident in that regard and I’m sure I can move forward tomorrow.”
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