Carlos Sainz Jnr says Red Bull’s days of domination are over and Ferrari are putting pressure on them in the championship.
His team mate Charles Leclerc’s victory in last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, backed up by Sainz in third place, brought Ferrari to within 24 points of Red Bull at the top of the constructors’ standings.
Sainz believes Red Bull are still the team to beat but believes they are more vulnerable than before. “My common sense tells me that on normal tracks Red Bull should still be favourites,” said Sainz. “Domination, like we were seeing, hopefully not. But favourites, yes.
“Then it will be a very tight fight with both McLaren and us. I think we are all three at a very similar level. Our last reference of a normal track is Imola and Miami and if I see those two tracks, we seem to be half a tenth behind McLaren and maybe a tenth or two behind Red Bull.
“It still means that that any small progress, any small upgrade, any small thing that we bring to the car might switch it to a potential race victory or a winning car.”
Certain track configurations will play to Ferrari’s strengths more over the coming races, Sainz added. “In Monaco, we’ve always been strong. Street circuits like Singapore and last year in Monaco, it shows the strengths of the Ferrari.”
He said Max Verstappen’s error on his final run in qualifying last weekend, which dropped him to sixth on the grid, showed Red Bull are susceptible to pressure.
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“Being within 24 points of the Red Bull in the constructors, you see that when you put them under pressure yesterday, Max did a mistake in Q3 run two, Checo was out in Q1. We all just need to be there to show that these things can happen to Red Bull too. And [Saturday] is the best example.”
Sainz said Ferrari and McLaren have closed the gap to Red Bull since the season began and are now in a position to capitalise if they slip up.
“I think Ferrari, we will have our opportunities in these sorts of tracks,” he said after Sunday’s race in Monaco. “Canada I think is quite specific, but a Barcelona or any European track, where I consider it to be a normal track, I still think Red Bull will be favourites, but I don’t think they’ll dominate like they used to do.
“That’s good news for the championship. It’s just worth being within a tenth or two in quali, then even if they’re favourites, they cannot afford to do any mistakes….
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