Carlos Sainz explains how cold temperatures are helping Ferrari in Imola. cold temperatures are helping Ferrari in Imola.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz immediately found the right feeling with his SF21 at Imola and finished the first free practice session with the sixth time in 1’16 ”888 (identical time with Gasly ed.) To then improve in the afternoon and score the fourth time in 1’15 ”834, with only a gap of 283 thousandths from the reference time of Bottas.

What surprised us today at Imola was the competitiveness of the car driven by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Monegasque, in fact, could have obtained the best performance of the day if his time had not been canceled for going wide at the exit of the Piratella, while Carlos Sainz showed considerable confidence with the SF21 number 55 thanks to the temperatures considerably lower than those in Bahrain.

The cold seems to have played in Ferrari’s favor and it was Carlos Sainz himself, speaking to Sky Sport F1 HD, who confirmed that he had a car in his hands that allowed him to immediately push to the limit.

“Today from the first laps in FP1 I didn’t know what to expect due to the colder conditions and the less abrasive asphalt, but I saw that with the car I was able to push harder, to go closer to the limit, without experiencing oversteer or understeer.”

Carlos appeared above all satisfied with the continuous progress he is making in this process of learning the new reality of Maranello.

“I continue to improve lap after lap and I felt more grip than in the Bahrain round, but this applies to all the teams, not just us.”

One point to be analyzed with particular attention in view of Sunday’s race will be tire degradation. Sainz stated that in the simulations he accused front graining and hopes to be able to find the ideal set-up with the team to prevent this problem.

“There is some degradation, especially because here you have the possibility to push harder unlike in Bahrain. There you had to drive conservatively with the tires, while here, with the stable rear, you have the opportunity to force more but this involves graining on the front. We hope to be able to adopt the correct set-up in order to improve this aspect ”.

Finally, Carlos talked about his relationship with Charles Leclerc. The two seem to be linked by a sincere friendship and are working in harmony to allow the Scuderia to be able to return to the top: “We both want to do well, but we respect each other and have a good relationship. I’ve known him for a couple of years and he always seemed like a nice guy. We are very motivated and we are trying to push the team in the same direction”