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Sainz says Ferrari go backwards at French Grand Prix

Sainz says Ferrari "go backwards" at French Grand Prix

21-06-2021 07:43 Last update: 07:48

It had looked like it would be a good race for Ferrari after a promising start to the weekend but the Italian team dropped back significantly in the second stint of the French Grand Prix as they were unable to make their tyres last. Failing to score any points, Ferrari are now behind McLaren in the standings and will hope to understand their issues with the rubber fast so they can put it right in Austria this weekend. 

“On Friday we looked okay. But clearly the conditions changed and our car, just the way we treat the tyres, we are not very resilient to condition changes,” said Sainz to Formula1.com. “We are on the limit of graining the front tyres always and as soon as we grain them, basically we go backwards.

“Right from the laps to the grid, and honestly, the race pace from Lap 1 wasn’t there and we were degrading the tyres massively,” Sainz added. “It’s something I haven’t experienced before and it’s something that we really need to understand as it’s quite evident that in some of these Sunday conditions, we are not treating the tyres very well and we are going backwards.”

Ferrari are 16 points behind McLaren in the standings.