Carlos Sainz is hopeful that a more "normal" Formula 1 weekend structure at the Miami Grand Prix will allow him to bounce back after a poor performance in Azerbaijan.
The upcoming event in Miami reverts to the traditional three practice sessions, with parc ferme conditions kicking in at the start of qualifying on Saturday afternoon, as opposed to the new Sprint weekend format which had cars locked into their set-ups for the weekend after just FP1 on Friday morning.
As a result of this, Sainz was unable to change his set-up and so struggled throughout the Baku weekend, including being 0.8 seconds down on teammate Charles Leclerc in qualifying on Friday.
He laboured to fourth and fifth place finishes in the Sprint and Grand Prix respectively, but feels that the return of the traditional format this weekend will serve him well.
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Sainz hopeful for Miami bounce back
"In a way, I find it positive that the next race is coming quickly, because I can get this one behind me," Sainz told media, including RacingNews365.com.
"Now, on the other hand, obviously I probably would need a bit more time, but we've turned it around in the past within three or four days, and I expect that we will do the same before Miami.
"I think I need a bit of a normal weekend to get back a feeling with the car, and if [the feeling] is the same as here, I will have a few sessions to experiment with set-up.
"But I don't expect it to be the same as my very strong weekend in Australia."
Work to do for Ferrari
In the ongoing battle for second place in the Constructors', Ferrari had the upper hand over both Mercedes and Aston Martin over the weekend, with both of those teams struggling.
Sainz feels that the pace of the Astons in particular exposed a "fundamental weakness" with the SF-23 package.
"I think we still have a lot of work to do in the race when you see how much quicker we were compared to the Astons in qualifying, and the Aston being on the tail of Charles for all the race.
"It just proves the car still has a fundamental weakness in race pace, so I expect us to keep making small steps in the right direction.
"At least in qualifying, we have unlocked a bit, but points are on Sunday and we will work hard on that."
Also interesting:
Balve Bains is joined by RacingNews365.com Editorial Director Dieter Rencken and Asia Correspondent Michael Butterworth to dissect the key talking points from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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