"It is not a secret" - Carlos Sainz admits he is 'struggling to get on top' of his Ferrari, but claims he isn't 'miles away' from teammate Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz admitted that he's not had a great start to the season and unlike his teammate Charles Leclerc, he's not entirely been on top of things at Ferrari. The Spaniard had a great debut season with the Italian team last year and was able to beat Leclerc in the points standings. This season, however, is a different story as Sainz has not finished a single race in which he outqualified or outraced his teammate.

During the Drivers' Press Conference, the 27-year-old was asked the following by Edward Spence of Motorlat:

“Your qualifying record compared to Charles is currently 0 for 5. How much pressure have you got on your shoulders this weekend knowing that you could really do with outqualifying him for the first time this season?”

Sainz admitted that he has not adapted to the car as well as his teammate, and said that the target was not just to outqualify the Monegasque but the entire grid. He replied:

“Yeah, the target is not only to outqualify Charles but to outqualify everyone who is with a competitive car but so far this season – it is not a secret that he found his groove very quickly with this new car. I’m struggling to get on top of it. Even if I’m struggling you know I’m a tenth off in pretty much every qualifying so it’s not like I’m miles away.”

The Spanish driver will be looking to get on top of things this weekend in Barcelona.

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Carlos Sainz: I'm within reach and it could change any weekend

Carlos Sainz was quick to point out that even though he has been outperformed by his teammate this year, the gap between them has not been much. He said that with a few improvements, he could definitely catch up to his teammate.

He said:

“I feel like I’m within reach and that it could change any weekend as soon as I figure a bit my head around the exact way that I need to drive the car and the exact way I need to set it up for my liking. So the record might not be great and I’m not particularly proud about it. But we are about…yeah, the last few qualifyings have been fighting for pole position, so it’s not that I’m lacking a lot.”

The Spanish GP is Carlos Sainz's home race and he will be hoping to use the support from his home crowd to propel himself back into contention for the title.