After Charles Leclerc brought in a new engine in Russia that contained the latest update of Ferrari’s hybrid system, it was Sainz’s turn last weekend to switch to his fourth engine from 2021 and receive a starter penalty.
But when Sainz saw how fast Leclerc was on Friday’s low-fuel runs, he admitted he “regretted a little” that he hadn’t for one like his teammate on a weekend when Ferrari was proving competitive Podium could fight.
Leclerc led the wet race on Sunday, clearing Sergio Perez in third place but holding Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in check for fourth place.
From the end of the grid, Sainz moved up to eighth, just four seconds behind Lando Norris ‘McLaren, with which Team Ferrari is fighting for third place in the constructors’ championship.
Despite losing what appeared to be a big chance to hit back against McLaren, Sainz said he stood by the team’s decision to take the starting penalty in Istanbul.
“No, I wouldn’t change the decision, I think it was the perfect race to take the penalty and then make a comeback,” said Sainz.
“Of course I could have started more up front with the old engine without the penalty, but in a long season you have to put everything into perspective and that’s a development that brings us a little bit of performance.
“Well, I think the decision was made right and we made it as soon as possible and it gave me the opportunity to get through the field again today.
“As you saw today, I was able to overtake and that is also thanks to the good work that everyone in Maranello is doing with the new unit.”
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
While Ferrari said its engine upgrade was more geared towards 2022, it nonetheless delivered short-term performance as team principal Binotto argued that Leclerc would have started further back in fourth if he had used Maranello’s old specification.
“When I look back [Charles]”It was very close and I’m pretty sure that without this specification a few positions would have been lost,” said Binotto, who skipped the Turkish Grand Prix and worked from the factory.
When asked if the drive unit update will allow Ferrari to beat McLaren in 2021, Sainz said the battle for third place would continue to sway back and forth depending on the track.
“It’s a difficult question to answer,” said Sainz as Ferrari reduced the gap to 7.5 points.
“As you saw this weekend, we were faster than McLaren. In Sochi they were faster than us, so I still think it will go up and down by the end of the year.
“What this engine should give us, in my opinion, is the possibility that the tracks we are behind on are a little closer to them and on tracks that we are ahead, maybe a little higher.
“This is what we’ve been looking for since the upgrade went ahead and we hope it will give us the little edge of making the fight a little more complicated.”
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