Carlos Sainz has suggested that Ferrari have made good use of the break between Formula 1 races and are on course to correct their own car development path. The first three races of the season have been eye-opening events for the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes, who have fallen further behind Red Bull and are typically competing against Aston Martin for the final podium position. Sainz had previously suggested that the performance gap could prompt Ferrari into completely revising their car concept , something which the team have played down as an option. However, speaking after a lengthy break between Grands Prix, Sainz believes that the development work completed by Ferrari behind the scenes will help their quest for competitiveness. "We do know our car much better, especially after these three weeks, we've managed to do some good analysis and set for the future directions to chase in our development programme," Sainz confirmed to media, including RacingNews365.com . "This was target number one of this three week break, to really identify the weaknesses that we have and the strengths of our direct competitors, in this case Red Bull, who are a step ahead of everyone, and try the best we can to come back and fight them as quickly as possible."
Australia saw progress, despite the frustrations
Ferrari's Australian Grand Prix weekend will be remembered for their failed protest at Sainz's late-race penalty for taking out Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso at the Lap 57 restart. Coupled with teammate Charles Leclerc's lap one retirement, the zero points outcome meant it was their worst start to a season for several years. However, Sainz looked at the positives from a difficult weekend, where he highlighted their race pace as a big improvement. "Our chances this weekend should be similar to our chances in Australia. It is true that in Australia we took a bit of a different path on setup that seemed to work," added Sainz. "We were quite quick in the race, whereas in the past we've struggled, so I hope that we can keep going in that direction and feel more competitive this weekend."
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