Carlos Sainz saw Red Bull Racing’s lead in Bahrain and thinks it will be interesting how they can keep the C3 tire alive a little longer than the competition. In the Spaniard’s opinion, the softs are much less likely to overheat under the Red Bull car. That may be a reason why the car performs better on race day than during qualifying.
Sainz completed the podium by driving an impressive race to P3. Teammate Charles Leclerc suffered a number of problems early in the race, including with the brakes. The Spaniard also suffered from this, but ultimately managed to take third place. He rode behind Sergio Pérez, but could not overtake him. “I think Red Bull’s advantage in Bahrain is what you saw very, very clearly today,” Sainz said in the FIA ​​press conference. “I think it’s interesting how they can keep the C3 band alive a little longer than the rest, how they tend to overheat less quickly.”
Sainz was able to study the rear of the RB20 for a long time, so he was struck by how easy Red Bull had it on the red tire. “Maybe that’s also what makes the car not so competitive in qualifying and so good in the race on a circuit like Bahrain,” the Madrid driver continues. ‘It wasn’t an easy race, but yes, I enjoyed it a lot. I had a good race pace and it felt really good to finish third.’ The 29-year-old made another attempt to attack Pérez, but that didn’t work. ‘Maybe if I had been behind it within a second, but two or three seconds is too much. I was never really up to the challenge with Checo.’
‘We have already taken a good step’
In any case, Sainz expects Red Bull to continue to improve in the race, just like last year. ‘Just look at the last eight races between Charles and me. We managed to get some pole positions, but then Max was pulling away in the race and Checo was always able to overtake us,” Sainz emphasizes. “It is now up to us to get to work and develop this car to close the gap in the race.” Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur is certainly ambitious, the Frenchman previously announced that he hopes to fight with Red Bull this year.
