New Ferrari recruit Carlos Sainz admits that he’s going to the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend for the season opener and that he’s not quite comfortable with the team’s SF21 Formula 1 car.
After switching from McLaren to the Maranello squad over the winter, the Spaniard had just a day and a half behind the wheel of Ferrari’s 2021 car before the new campaign began.
Ahead of this weekend’s opening lap at Sakhir, Sainz acknowledged that he must regret the lack of miles he has been able to cover in his quest to get up to speed as soon as possible.
When asked if he felt completely ready for his first race with Ferrari, Sainz replied: “Probably not.
“Due to the opportunities available, we did a really good job in winter to come here as … prepared as possible. I did a lot of simulator, the three days we did here went smoothly.
“I wish I had more kilometers in the car, I wish the winter tests were a little longer than they were, but all in all I feel ready to try it out.”
On the subject of matching items
Ferrari is the fourth team, after Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren, that Sainz has driven during his seven-year F1 season, and the 26-year-old hopes that his past experience of sharing teams can help him accelerate his team Adjustment process.
“I think it helps of course to have this team change experience so often,” he said. “Of course I am sure that you will never be as ready in the first race as you are in a second or third year of experience with a car or a team.
“But at the same time you can still work at a very high level if the feeling is good with the car and very good with the team. It is very difficult to know exactly how long it will take a driver [to get comfortable];; There were teams that needed a race or two for me, other teams that definitely took me longer.
“Hard to say and until I do the first few races I won’t really be able to say when I’m approaching the limit of the car.”
