Ferrari "a completely different car" in damp Austria - Carlos Sainz

Austrian Grand Prix

Ferrari "a completely different car" in damp Austria - Sainz

Neither Ferrari driver featured inside the top 10 on Friday

Sam Hall

Friday 2 July 2021 19:27

Carlos Sainz conceded his Ferrari felt "like a completely different car" to one week ago in the damp, cooler Red Bull Ring conditions.

Ferrari struggled for pace on Friday with neither car featuring in the top 10 just one week after both cars finished inside the top seven of the Styrian Grand Prix, a race that took place at the same venue.

With temperatures dramatically lower than last week and with drizzle falling in the afternoon session, Sainz reflected: "I must say track conditions were a lot more different than what I was expecting.

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"We pretty much put together a pretty similar car to last weekend and everything starts to feel different which shows just how complex these Formula 1 cars are and how just slight changes in wing and track conditions makes it feel like a completely different car. "

Setting the 13th fastest time, Sainz was the lead Ferrari on Friday with Charles Leclerc only 16th although less than one-tenth separated the pair.

Despite the lack of pace, Sainz added: "I think we are in a very similar picture [to last week]. I think qualifying, just because of the amount of time you spend flat out at this track, even if we are really good through the corners, which we are just by simple statistics and numbers, with 80 per cent of the lap done on full throttle then we are always going to be a bit behind.

"But in the race where you struggle a lot more for grip in the corners and you don't have the extra grip in the tyres then hopefully our car comes alive and we can still keep going forward."

Ferrari "still working" on qualifying pace

Although Ferrari demonstrated strong race pace last weekend, qualifying was a different story with Sainz struggling in 12th.

Leclerc said: "Looking at our pace today, we kept it but then the quail pace, we haven't yet found the small step that we need to be a bit further up but we are working on it and hopefully we will find it between today and tomorrow.

"I don't think so. There is still quite a bit of work to do to understand the C5 - it is the first time we use it.

"I don't think we are on top yet of making them work in the optimum situation so we still need to work on that but overall it has been quite a good day. Our race pace is still as strong as last week and our quali pace we are still working on it."