Carlos Sainz says he has still been getting to grips with the SF-23 after a "difficult build-up" to the first Formula 1 qualifying session of the season. Sainz had appeared uneasy with the handling of the 2023 Ferrari over the course of Friday and Saturday, with the Spanish driver making mistakes in the second sector as he tried to extract the improved lap times. Speaking after the qualifying hour, Sainz was pleased with the team's setup progress overnight, but conceded that he was still "figuring out" the car. "It's been a difficult build-up to qualifying for me," Sainz told media, including RacingNews365.com . "Today, we managed to make some good progress through qualifying, and during the laps I was feeling a bit more at home and a bit more normal with the car. "I made a lot of progress, but there are still a couple of corners that I haven't figured out yet, but I'm happy to be on the second row, it puts us in a good position going into tomorrow, but it's not going to be an easy race."
Sainz: Ferrari analysing new chassis
With Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc sharing the sole SF-23 chassis during pre-season testing, as per the regulations, the 28-year-old revealed that he had been given the new chassis for the first race of the season. When asked by RacingNews365.com what setup or handling issues Ferrari had managed to find overnight, Sainz responded that it was part of an ongoing investigation: "It's still going on, because clearly yesterday we were not competitive. We've seen a couple of things already, but the final diagnosis will be done in the next few days."
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