Carlos Sainz claims Aston Martin ‘definitely seem in the fight’ alongside Red Bull in terms of pace

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are waiting for the fight not only against Red Bull Racing but also Aston Martin, whom they believe could pose a threat in 2023.

Fernando Alonso had retired from Formula One racing four years ago. Now, as the 2023 world championship season begins in Bahrain, Alonso finished the first day of racing as the fastest driver in the field.

In an interview with Sky Italia, the two Ferrari drivers expressed their belief that Aston Martin could pose a threat. Before the Bahrain Grand Prix begins, the two were found at the circuit making pre-race preparations and speaking to the press. Carlos Sainz was first asked who will be the top three this year.

"The three strongest? Not counting me and Charles? Apart from the drivers, I would say Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Mercedes are the strongest."

Despite smacking fans into a frenzy like no other opening day in F1 for many years, Alonso has every reason to be cautious. He knows that Aston Martin is fast, but you don't have to be a two-decade veteran to see what an intimidating threat reigning champions Red Bull are. Not only Max Verstappen but Sergio Perez as well.

It's often a dumb choice to draw conclusions from testing, but one of the few sure bets from the three days was that Red Bull was mighty impressive over a single lap.

Verstappen and Perez demonstrated this on Friday, with nearly identical lap times in the floodlit evening session. Despite having only Alonso ahead of them in the times, both Red Bull drivers admitted that neither had extracted the full potential of the RB19.

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If Ferrari has a poor start in 2023, their title hopes are not over, thinks Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz believes a poor performance by Ferrari in the Bahrain Grand Prix will not end the team's chances of winning the Formula One world championship.

Last season, teammate Charles Leclerc won two of the first three races, propelling Ferrari into driver and team championship contention. But a combination of poor reliability and strategy, combined with strong in-season Red Bull development, allowed Max Verstappen to comfortably defend his title.

Combined with Red Bull's strong performances in pre-season testing in Bahrain last week, Milton Keynes' team is the clear favourite heading into the season. However, Carlos Sainz has cautioned against assuming the title race is over if Ferrari does not challenge Red Bull for victory in the season opener.

"If you DNF with two cars on the first race, you're not going to lose the championship, because it's exactly what happened last year between us and Red Bull. We also know how it finished.

"Whatever happens in this first race, stay humble, stick to your plan of development of the things that you want to improve, because the championship is not won or lost in this first race and there's still 22 left."

Carlos Sainz went on to say that it was "impossible" to rank Ferrari based solely on testing. This is because the "last two or three-tenths" of a second difference between them and their rivals is unknown. Sunday will see speculations end and the racing begin.