Red Bull F1 car 'as quick as Mercedes' in corners reckons Sainz

Though Red Bull itself tipped junior team Toro Rosso as a rival for this season, so far RBR has been ahead - with Daniel Ricciardo fourth in the first two grands prix.

Asked by Autosport if he was surprised at Daniel Ricciardo's pace, Sainz replied: "It shows Red Bull is an amazing car.

"We've been asked many times about fighting Red Bull, and obviously we want to fight them, but we need to keep in mind it is one of the best, if not the best chassis on the grid.

"The engine this year doesn't look that bad any more. They are as quick as us on the straights, so definitely Red Bull will be very tough for us in the coming races.

"We can see Ricciardo's data on the GPS and everything. We can see it in the medium and low-speed corners.

"They are really quick - as quick as Mercedes, if not more.

"So it's very difficult to fight with them. It's a very high standard.

"You also see the budget they have compared to us, it's on a different planet, in a different league.

"We shouldn't look too much at them anymore I don't think, at least on the kind of circuit as in Bahrain.

"Hopefully we can keep in touch with Force India and Williams, especially at circuits that will be a bit more in our favour."

BRAKING A KEY RED BULL STRENGTH

Ricciardo has suggested one area where the Red Bull may have the edge over its rivals is under braking, which was particularly relevant in Bahrain.

"Even though we lost a bit on the straights there were still some pretty big braking zones, and that's where we made up some of the time," said Ricciardo.

"The car has been good on the brakes. Particularly in qualifying [in Bahrain] I had good confidence with it.

"I saw my sector one was fairly competitive considering a lot of it is straight, so I figure we gain a lot of that back in braking."

FERRARI ENGINE HELPS TORO ROSSO

Sainz, meanwhile, has no doubt Toro Rosso's decision to switch to a 2015 power unit from Ferrari "is still the right move, the right way to go".

He added: "Reliability has been very good, and that was our main concern, so for the moment it's not the wrong decision.

"The Ferrari guys, with the way they have integrated themselves into the team and are working for us, are incredible, and we are very pleased with that.

"We know we are not the fastest along the straight, but that can be down to drag, downforce choice, everything.

"But then we know our car is very good in the corners.

"Hopefully we made the right move. I'm convinced we did."