Carlos Sainz blunt: “Ferrari, podium far away,” but raises bar for Monza

A fifth-place finish greeted with anything but enthusiastic words.

Carlos Sainz led the only Ferrari to the finish of the Dutch Grand Prix. At Zandvoort, with Charles Leclerc withdrawn, the Spaniard è finished fifth after briefly hoping for a podium finish as well. At the end of the day he però admitted that that finish was a pipe dream, although in Monza the balance should change.

"The " last stint è was problematic, becauseé we had no tires – explained Sainz, in colossal difficulty; in the final -. We had to use an intermediate that was very used from yesterday’s qualifying. It was very worn, so we knew that those last seven laps would be very hard. Even just keeping Hamilton behind è was a good result, becauseé honestly I was on track with finished tires".

Sainz è then also wanted to dwell on the good form of his Ferrari in the earlier stages of the Dutch Grand Prix. He però immediately toned down: "We did the whole race fighting with cars that had been much faster than us all weekend. Especially at the beginning of the race, with mixed conditions, we made the difference. The first part of the race è was really very good. This allowed us to find ourselves in a good position. The fight for the podium honestly è was the result of circumstances, because today the podium in terms of pace was very far away. I am però happy to have fought with people who, honestly, this weekend were much faster than us".

The next rainbow event will now be the Italian Grand Prix. And in front of the home crowd Sainz expects a better Ferrari: " I am more optimistic for Monza. I think after the Spa performance, Monza should be more in that direction. We know we will suffer at these circuits, and I think also in Singapore. For Monza I expect forò forò certainly better things".