Was Mercedes lucky? Sainz: 'Without traffic, top three was possible'

The modifications Ferrari made to the cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz should especially help the team on Sunday. In qualifying for the Australian GP, it did not yield Ferrari much, although Sainz thinks a top-three finish would have been possible.

Mercedes was Saturday's surprise at Albert Park. George Russell starts Sunday from P2 and Lewis Hamilton from P3. Setbacks were there for Sainz on P5 and Charles Leclerc on P7. The modifications to the Ferrari have not helped in qualifying yet, but will help on Sunday, according to Sainz.

The Spaniard tells the Italian branch of Motorsport.com. Ferrari will need the improvements on Sunday. Especially for Leclerc who is fighting back from P7. Sainz thinks the improvements for Sunday directly contributed to things not going so fast on Saturday. Still, he says: "I think I could have made the top three with a clean lap." Sainz, in fact, suffered a lot from the traffic around him.

In a press statement, the Ferrari driver added: "We used different set-ups this weekend and tomorrow we will see what we can do in the race. It won't be easy, but we will try to fight to the front."