Carlos Sainz: Ferrari handed 'reality check' with Bahrain struggles

Ferrari

Sainz: Ferrari handed 'reality check' with Bahrain struggles

The Ferrari driver finished fourth, behind Red Bull and Aston Martin's Alonso

Ewan Gale

Sunday 5 March 2023 19:42 Updated: 20:09

Carlos Sainz has conceded Ferrari has been given a "reality check" after finishing well adrift of Red Bull at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Spaniard could finish only fourth in the season opener having been overtaken in the closing stages by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Two-time champion Alonso experienced far better tyre wear with his AMR23 as Sainz slumped behind his compatriot, though he was able to hold Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes at arm's length.

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Red Bull's gap at the top of the leaderboard makes for grim reading at the Scuderia, however, with Max Verstappen finishing 48secs ahead of Sainz, with Sergio Perez only 12secs behind his team-mate.

Ferrari endured a torrid Bahrain Grand Prix

"We knew coming into the race it was going to be a bit of a struggle given the degradation we saw at the test and on Friday," Sainz told Sky Sports F1.

"We managed to hold onto P4 and P3 for some time but in the end the Aston and the Red Bull was a lot quicker and not degrading the tyres as much as we do.

"We finished where we are, a bit of a reality check.

"A bit of work to do in the next few weeks to figure out this weakness and hopefully other tracks will be better for us."

Sainz urges reliability solution

Sainz's team-mate Charles Leclerc failed to finish the race having dropped out of third with an engine failure just 16 laps from the end.

The Monégasque had been forced to switch to his second energy store of the season – the last free component in his allocation for the year - as Ferrari's reliability concerns seemingly carried through from last term.

"Of course, it is not ideal and it worries us until we find a solution," said Sainz.

"Hopefully we can find it soon."

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