Carlos Sainz finds his Ferrari 'trickier' than Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz admitted that he finds his 2022 Ferrari challenger trickier than last year's car, which is not a problem Charles Leclerc seems to be facing. The Spaniard has been visibly on the backfoot in every single race this season as compared to his teammate.

In Saturday's post-qualifying press conference, the Spaniard described why he is unable to play around with his car as freely as his teammate is, saying:

“Yeah, I do find it a bit trickier. And snappier and a bit more pointy than last year’s car. And obviously that’s one of the reasons why probably I’m still not quite there. I can see Charles is obviously happier with it, and playing with it a lot more than I am. And giving him that lap time edge over me recently – but it’s a fast car, which is important thing.”

The 27-year-old, however, went on to express his optimism with the car, saying:

“I mean, I still prefer to be P3 in a fast car than P6 with a slow car, but a car that drives better. I just need to get used to it, get used to this feeling of playing with the rear a lot more. I’m doing my homework in the simulator and at the track, every time I go out, I try to push myself to get used to this balance. But yeah, I will get there.”

Sainz qualified once again behind his teammate and will be starting the Spanish Grand Prix from the second row in third place.

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"Upgrades seem to be working well" - Carlos Sainz ahead of the Spanish GP

Ferrari have brought their first set of major upgrades for the sixth round of the 2022 F1 season to Barcelona. Carlos Sainz thinks that the modifications have had a positive impact on the car's performance.

Describing his expectations from the main race tomorrow, he said:

“Overall P3 is a decent result for tomorrow and we feel positive for the race, as the upgrades seem to be working well. I still struggle a bit with the rear being very light in this car, so I’m not driving it exactly the way I would like to. However, we still managed to grab P3, which is a good position to attack tomorrow. We’ll give everything from there to fight for the win!”

The Spaniard currently stands fifth in the drivers' standings with a total of 53 points.