Why Sainz believes Ferrari 'aren't far away' from Red Bull
Carlos Sainz believes that Ferrari can be optimistic of their chances of overhauling Red Bull next season, despite their rival's convincing championship win in 2022.
Ferrari's championship challenge failed to materialise despite a strong start to the 2022 season. Two wins in four races gave Charles Leclerc and Ferrari the early leads in the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships.
However, Red Bull's development, along with Ferrari errors, meant that the Milton Keynes team ultimately dominated the year with 17 out of 22 Grand Prix wins.
Sainz, who had his own pace deficit issues, was asked how big the challenge would be to get ahead of Red Bull in 2023, with the Spanish driver pointing to Ferrari's superior qualifying pace.
"I feel we have chances," Sainz told media, including TheFOXposts.Com.
"Red Bull has been dominant, but they've been dominant without being clearly ahead in pure qualifying pace and race pace. So I don't feel like we are so far behind in terms of car development and car performance.
"If you think about it, I was on pole in Austin, so it means that we were one-two in Austin in qualifying. So it must be that our car is actually not that far from the Red Bull."
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Sainz highlights race-specific improvements for 2023
Ferrari's turbulent year was hampered by driver and strategic errors, as well as sporadic reliability issues which dented their chances of a first championship since 2008.
When explaining where Ferrari could improve for 2023, Sainz highlighted the various areas where Red Bull have dominated the Italian team this year.
"What we need to focus on is in trying to understand next year’s tyres [and] see how we can be quicker in the race because it's clear that the Red Bull is particularly quick in the race compared to us," added Sainz.
"For the strategy, race execution, tyre management, [they are other steps] that we want to take next year that we are already working on it.
"But in terms of pure performance, we are not far. We just need to put on a bit more power and a bit more downforce in the car and we're going to be at the same level or faster. So let's hope that we can do that."
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