Carlos Sainz has teased that Ferrari already have a wind tunnel car "better than the one" that helped Charles Leclerc to his near-record-breaking start to an F1 season. Ferrari's F1-75 has proven to be fast and reliable during the opening races of 2022, with Leclerc winning in both Bahrain and Australia, on either side of a second-placed finish in Saudi Arabia. As a result, Leclerc has scored a massive 71 points, only four points down on the 75 claimed by Nico Rosberg during 2016's opening three rounds But Ferrari have an even better car waiting for them in the wind tunnel, teammate Sainz has explained. "We're confident we can develop our car," he said, speaking to members of the media, including RacingNews365.com . "We already have, obviously, pieces running in the wind tunnel, and a car in the wind tunnel that is better than the one that we have right now on track, like all the teams have."
Sainz says Ferrari know where they must improve
Besides some minor issues on Sainz's side of the garage, Ferrari's near-pristine reliability has been one of the strongest weapons in their armoury. With upgrades expected to arrive at Imola , albeit not major ones, Sainz pointed to top-end speed remaining Ferrari's weakness in their fight against Red Bull. "We are focusing as a team to try and improve a bit the top speed, to try and be able to fight them a bit more face to face in the race, because they definitely looked very, very strong in Jeddah," he continued. "For the rest, I think we have a very good balance in the car, we have a good feeling overall and we've been reliable, too. So we just need to keep our head down and keep seeing where we can improve this car."
Sainz: Red Bull and Mercedes are still favourites
Ferrari could end the upcoming Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend, on home soil in Italy, having further extended their already-healthy lead at the front. But during a season so long - and with so much still to learn about F1's new cars - Sainz maintains that his team are far from favourites yet. "Red Bull and Mercedes are the favourites, because we haven't been in a title fight in the last few years, and in the previous years to that, these teams have out-developed Ferrari," he said. "We are still super cautious. We know we have a great car, and we have put together on track a great car, but these two teams have been in a title fight for the last two or three years, and they know how much you need to improve, they know exactly what they need to do. "We are maybe lacking that bit of experience. I think we have great people and we are prepared, but we don't know. We are still cautious and are expecting a bit to see what happens."
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