Leclerc: Must understand why I had no pace

Conflicting feelings are experienced at Ferrari after the sprint in Austria. Carlos Sainz finished third and his teammate Charles Leclerc was the first to lose ground at the start as he blocked Oscar Piastri in qualifying for the sprint, then during the sprint, finishing twelfth.

Carlo Sainz (3rd): “Not the easiest Saturday, but I’m happy with third after a shaky start to the day. In the first part of qualifying for the sprint I had problems with the brakes – it took time to fix them , so I could only drive one lap to reach the second part!

I would like to have a new set of Soft for the final, but considering everything that happened, fifth place at the start can be considered a good result.

The rain sprint was also very tough. The car was not easy to drive in fast corners, but I was able to finish third, which was our maximum today.

Now all our attention is focused on tomorrow’s race. I hope we can confirm the step forward the team has taken and get a good result.”

Charles Leclerc (12th): “I have to work hard to perform better in such conditions, because Carlos succeeded. I was on slicks, but the track was partially dry, I couldn’t feel the car and couldn’t get it within working range. That’s why I didn’t have enough pace. I had serious problems driving, I had no confidence, which was reflected in my speed.

I need to understand why the machine did not work under such conditions. The result of the sprint is not related to the strategy – the question is at my pace. I had a good fight with Esteban Ocon, but to be honest, fighting for low positions is not interesting to me. Under these circumstances, I must take a step forward.

I believe we will be fast if the race is run on a dry track. Maybe not as fast as Red Bull, but we can fight for a good result.”

Frederick VasseurTeam boss: “Carlos had a perfect race as he had problems with the brakes in the first part of qualifying for the sprint this morning.

Charles had a harder time in such conditions, he started from the back and ended up in traffic. I’m not worried about the race because the weather should be dry and we will start from the first and second rows.

On Sunday you need to repeat the pace of Friday and show a good result. Due to the set-up of the weekend and the difficult weather conditions, we don’t have a clear picture of the pace at the moment, as we were unable to do even two laps in a row in the same conditions or on the same tyres.

There is a very short round in Austria so the results are tighter which further complicates things. But all teams are equal. Given the starting positions, we have a good chance to earn a lot of points.”