The Spaniard was outperformed all weekend by Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who took pole for each the dash and the Grand Prix, and completed second within the shorter race and third in the primary occasion.
Sainz in distinction needed to accept fifth place in each after experiencing a tough weekend that was exacerbated by the dearth of observe operating and the imposition of parc ferme after FP1 stopping set-up modifications.
Within the Grand Prix he misplaced out to countryman Fernando Alonso, who muscled previous after the resumption following the protection automobile interval.
“Seeing the place Fernando completed, I feel he was all the time going to complete forward of me at the moment,” mentioned Sainz when requested about his race by Autosport.
“However yeah, nothing new. Actually, the primary stint on the medium, I appeared like I discovered a little bit of tempo again.
“After which as quickly as I put the onerous on, my struggles of the weekend appeared once more, and I simply needed to carry house a P5, all the time very on the restrict of crashing, or feeling like I used to be dropping the automobile.
“So [it was] a fairly lengthy race and mentally hectic after the battle of the weekend. However I introduced house the P5. I am positive we’ll discover out why this occurred this weekend. And I am positive in Miami, we’ll be again on kind.”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Whereas Leclerc had two strong races, Sainz harassed that Ferrari nonetheless has to enhance its tempo over lengthy runs.
“I feel we nonetheless have a variety of work to do within the race,” he mentioned. “While you see how a lot faster we had been in comparison with the Astons in quali, and the Astons being on the tail of Charles all of the race, simply proves that the automobile nonetheless has a basic weak point in race tempo.
“So I count on us to be sure that we preserve making small steps in the precise course. Not less than our qualifying tempo seems like we have unlocked a bit. However factors are on Sunday, and we’ll work onerous on that.”
Sainz famous that in Sunday’s Grand Prix he had specific points at Baku’s Flip 15, the place a number of drivers brushed the limitations through the race.
“It is a very difficult nook, it turned a very slim one at the moment,” he mentioned. “There was a little bit of tailwind there pushing us from behind. And it meant that it was very straightforward to clip the wall on the surface.
“And that is why while you’re struggling for confidence like I used to be at the moment, you simply must again off as a result of in any second you possibly can put it within the wall and throw to the bin 10 factors.
“I feel final yr I might have made a mistake as a result of I used to be much less skilled in a weekend like at the moment, and this weekend I took it simpler and made positive that I did not do the errors I did final yr.”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Requested if he had any clues as to why he struggled in Baku, Sainz hinted that the dash format hadn’t helped.
“No, as a result of we’ve not had time to sit down down and analyse,” he mentioned. “We have needed to in a short time go into the following session to wonderful tune the automobile with the entrance wing, and the switches, to place it in a little bit of a greater place.
“However we’ve not dug deep into the information to see what may have occurred this weekend. However yeah, I am positive along with my engineers we’ll discover out.
“And we’ll work be again on kind in Miami. It is clearly a disgrace to have such a irritating lengthy weekend right here in Baku.
“In a approach, I discover it Positive that the following race is coming rapidly as a result of I can get this one behind me in a short time.”
He added: “I feel I want a little bit of a standard weekend to get again with a sense with the automobile, and if the sensation is identical as right here, then I’ll have a number of classes to experiment with setup.”