After a number of encouraging races, including Leclerc who finished second in the British GP, the Italian team are optimistic about the progress they are making on their SF21.
And before the race this weekend in Budapest, the team is well aware of how strong it was in the last F1 race with high downforce in Monaco – where Leclerc took pole and Sainz finished second.
Despite those reasons that suggest Ferrari might believe they can fight at the top again, both drivers are more cautious about their prospects.
When asked by Autosport if Ferrari would approach Hungary because they believed they had a chance to win, Leclerc said: “I mean, it’s good to be an optimist and I think we all want one such a good performance in the last three races be an optimist. ”to be honest.
“On the other hand, we also have to be realistic.
“We are in a good mood, but I think it could be a bit optimistic to go for a win in Budapest.
“Realistically, I think that I’ll be happy if we’re just behind the top two teams.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sainz thinks that the current characteristics of the F1 cars with their significantly high downforce have actually changed the challenge on the Hungaroring circuit – away from the kind of track where the Ferrari could really shine.
“Budapest has actually become a medium to high-speed track with these cars lately,” he said.
“When you look at Monaco and Baku there are corners in second or third gear, but Budapest these days with these crazy, high downforce cars has a middle sector where you are in fourth or fifth gear all the time.
“So it’s not a pure low-speed track like it used to be.
“I don’t think it will be such a good track for us.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to be right behind Red Bull and Mercedes, but the downforce is still king and we can see from the data that these guys are still ahead.
“As we saw [at the British GP], on the hard tire, Lewis [Hamilton] had a bit more pace than us and should be ahead in Hungary.
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