Sainz on Ferrari’s upgrades for Austria: ‘Hopefully worth it’

Carlos Sainz, after finishing fifth behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the Canadian Grand Prix, is looking forward to Ferrari’s new upgrades for the Austrian Grand Prix, but does not want the predict the outcome yet, nor he thinks they cut their gap completely to Red Bull.

In Thursday's press conference, Carlos Sainz said that he hopes Ferrari can move in the right direction once again. "Another step in the right direction this is definitely the target, the team back in Marinello has done an incredible effort to bring them forward to this race. I can not thank them enough."

The Spanish driver also appreciates his team’s extensive work the Ferrari crew did to get the upgrades ready for the car for the race in Spielberg. "It’s been a huge effort by everyone, and from here I wanted to congratulate them, we’re going to do our best to make them work well. Hopefully they are all worth it and we can be competitive this weekend," he added.

On the other hand, Sainz did not give away what the upgrades would mean in terms of lap time. "I'll tell you, when I test them and I can feel them," the Ferrari driver added.

Sainz also commented on what the new upgrades mean in comparison to Red Bull and their lead. "There is a big gap between the Red Bull and us, and to think that we are going to cut the gap with one upgrade that would be naive and not realistic. Is the upgrade going to help our weaknesses and hopefully make us come closer."

The Spaniard’s final verdict was: "So it’s all relative in F1, I do hope that this upgrade is opening, for new development and new opportunities and new ways to set up the car that helps us moving in the right direction, but I think it would be a bit too optimistic to say to think suddenly we are going to be level with Red Bull with how competitive they are."