Carlos Sainz claims the weaknesses of Ferrari’s SF-23 “came alive” during a Spanish Grand Prix in which he went backward.

From second on the grid at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, Sainz started the race targeting a podium finish behind pole-sitting Max Verstappen in his Red Bull.

But the Spanish driver had no answer to charging Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell who finished second and third respectively behind the in-form Dutchman who has now won three consecutive races.

Sainz had to settle for fifth, whilst team-mate Charles Leclerc only climbed seven places following a pit lane start. Leclerc took the chequered flag 12th but was promoted a place due to Yuki Tsunoda serving a penalty.

Barcelona’s mix of medium-and high-speed corners proved particularly detrimental to the Ferraris as they were unable to eke life out of Pirelli’s tyres in contrast to their rivals.

“I just spent the whole race managing tyres because we know we are very hard on them, and with this high-deg circuit, I just couldn’t push,” lamented Sainz.

“We know it’s a weakness of our car and coming to a high-deg circuit, we were just managing the whole way, trying to make it to target laps in the stints but still falling short in a few of them.

“The weakness of our car came alive at a circuit like this with its high-speed corners, and how hard we are on tires.

“It also shows that (in qualifying) we must have done a pretty good lap. But the race was a bit back to where the car is at the moment on race pace. Probably this sort of track, it’s just not great for us.”

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Best of Ferrari upgrades not seen – Sainz

For the race, Ferrari unveiled an upgrade package that included a new floor and bodywork, and whilst there appeared to be an improvement over one lap, the jury is out on whether it can be a factor in the race.

Sainz remarked it was “difficult to tell” whether the upgrades worked during the grand prix, adding: “I know the factory did a tremendous effort to bring them.

“But probably we brought them to our weakest track of the season because of its characteristics, so probably we haven’t seen the best of them yet.

“I still believe with the bouncing and the high-speed weakness we have, we were never going to be very competitive, so it’s too early to tell.”

The fact Leclerc was unable to break into the top 10 at a circuit where overtaking improved following the removal of a chicane in the final sector was another indicator for Sainz of how Ferrari is continuing to struggle and the work still required.

“It just shows that probably last year, we would have made it back to the top four, top five, starting from the pit lane,” said Sainz.

“Now the field is tighter and it’s more difficult to make your way through.

“There’s work to do and analysis to be done on this package. I trust what we have done is in the right direction. Now we need to start addressing our weaknesses with the bouncing, with the high speed.

“With this new package, this new direction, hopefully, we can start bringing performance.”