Carlos Sainz says Ferrari will have a hard time matching Red Bull’s Formula 1 pace until the team brings its first major upgrade.
Although Ferrari is yet to qualify within two tenths of three-time world champion Max Verstappen this season, the Scuderia had a promising one-two in the Australian Grand Prix, with Sainz leading home team-mate Charles Leclerc and the McLarens.
After both Red Bulls were dominant in the first two rounds, Verstappen was leading the race from pole position in Melbourne when he was struck by braking woes early on and subsequently had to retire, but Sergio Perez wasn’t competitive enough to do any better than fifth place.
Sainz is encouraged by Ferrari’s performance but warned the Maranello-based squad would struggle to match Red Bull until it brings a big enough upgrade to bridge its rival’s advantage.
“Our car worked really well this weekend,” the Spaniard said. “But it’s going to be tough to keep it up there in every track until we bring an upgrade to close that gap that we saw in Bahrain and Jeddah.
“But around Australia, from lap one, it felt like a race-winning car. And even if Red Bull were also quick and were on pole, that [1min15.915sec pole lap time] in quali wasn’t out of reach for us.
