Carlos Sainz celebrated his third-place finish in the sprint at the Red Bull Ring in Austria this Saturday, but he reminded fans that the bulk of the points typically lands on race day. He set the tone for Sunday by expressing a clear goal: to start strong and push for a podium alongside his teammate, hoping that their championship battle begins to tilt in their favor. The sentiment captured the mood in the Ferrari camp as they looked toward the main event with renewed ambition.
The Madrid-born driver summed up the sprint’s 24 laps, a session interrupted by heavy rain that drenched the Spielberg circuit seconds before the green flag. He acknowledged the awkwardness of the conditions and the novelty of switching to intermediate tires, noting that even with a car that felt balanced, the unpredictable surface made the outcome uncertain. He chased Sergio Perez but admitted the Mexican was quick, keeping Sainz from closing the gap he hoped to bridge. The goal, he explained, was to maximize pace during a tricky stint and set up a strong strategy for the race ahead. [CITATION: Official FIA Sprint Report]
“Maybe we could have been a little faster, but once we overtook Hülkenberg, confidence grew a bit. I pushed hard but the tires started to give way, and I simply couldn’t match the pace of Checo,” he reflected. Yet he framed the result as a positive one for the team, hinting that a strong Sunday performance would be attainable if the pace translated across the longer distance. It was a confidence-building moment for Sainz, who emphasized that the sprint was a stepping stone toward a more competitive main race in Austria. [CITATION: Ferrari Team Communications]
As qualifying approached, he offered a candid view on Red Bull’s pace and the challenge of catching up. The team believed there was room for improvement on Austria’s new surface, and Sainz conceded that Red Bull was still ahead, while remaining hopeful that the car would feel similar to the previous setup on Sunday. The Spaniard stressed that a podium with either Ferrari car would be meaningful, underscoring the team’s determination to extract every ounce of performance from the package available. [CITATION: Race Engineering Notes]
Looking at the longer arc of the weekend, Sainz praised the consistency of his intermediate tires during the sprint, noting they held up for the full 24 laps without incident. He described the result as encouraging while also cautioning that Deterioration could creep in as tire wear evolved. The focus now was on managing the pace and rhythm needed to start reclaiming ground in the championship. The driver remained pragmatic, outlining the plan to monitor tire behavior closely and to find a sustainable pace that allowed a strong response in the main race. [CITATION: Strategy Briefing Documents]