Sainz voices faith in Ferrari F1 title bid

Carlos Sainz has stated Ferrari still holds faith it can prevail in the constructors' championship this season.

A strong United States Grand Prix weekend offered the Italian squad a boost with Charles Leclerc and Sainz ending the race in first and second respectively.

It now sits 48 points down on leaders McLaren and just eight points away from overtaking Red Bull for second place. 

Sainz highlighted if Ferrari can mimic the pace it had at the most recent rounds, it stands a chance of winning the title.

“I think a lot of our belief in the constructors' title will come over the next couple of races,” Sainz told media including RacingNews365. 

“I think if from here [in the US] to the end, if all the races would be Singapores, Bakus and Monzas, we would believe that we can do it.

“If in Austin, Mexico, Brazil that are more standard tracks, we see ourselves falling back a bit and not performing, like we were in Zandvoort or Spa, then obviously our belief goes down.”

Sainz asserts coming races will provide answers

With teams able to continue development work on their cars across the last month despite a break in on-track action, Sainz hinted the pecking order could fluctuate until the end of the season due to upgrades.

“It's a lot of trying to assess,” Sainz said. “We are coming back to normal tracks with long, combined corners, high-speed corners.

“Let’s see where we are now in these kind of tracks and see if we can still fight like we did in Singapore and Baku and Monza.

“I think the others have taken this three-week break opportunity to bring upgrades to the car.

“Obviously, we haven't stood still and we still try to improve every single area, but it sounds like there's going to be a couple of teams maybe bringing the last upgrade and it could change a bit the pecking order.

“That’s why I think it's important to reassess from now on.