Sainz: Ferrari "very close" to being genuine F1 threat in Monaco
Carlos Sainz Jr believes Ferrari is “very close” to being a genuine threat to Mercedes and Red Bull in Monaco after impressing through Thursday’s Formula 1 practice running.


Sainz finished second in both FP1 and FP2 in Monaco, trailing Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc by one-tenth of a second in the afternoon session.
It marked Ferrari’s first 1-2 finish in any F1 session since second practice for the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, acting as the latest milestone in the team’s recovery from its difficult 2020 season.
Ferrari’s form in Monaco surprised title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, but both drivers felt that Sainz and Leclerc would be a real threat at the front of the field this weekend.
Sainz took encouragement from Ferrari’s pace on Thursday, but wanted to wait until track action resumes on Saturday before truly assessing how the team will stack up against Mercedes and Red Bull.
“We definitely look very close to being a genuine threat,” Sainz said.
“I think we need to wait until FP3, because things change a lot from Thursday to Saturday here.
“There are some drivers that stand back a bit on Thursday, just because they want to take it easy, and then suddenly on Saturday, like Lewis always does, he’s super quick.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We will see. It’s nice to see at least that we are closer to the front, that we’re actually playing around there at the front.
“It’s encouraging for the team, and there’s some positive signs that the car in the corners is actually not that bad.”
Read Also:
Sainz has an impressive record in Monaco, scoring points in each of his five starts in the race and recording a best finish of sixth in both 2017 and 2019.
The Spaniard revealed that he had to adjust his driving style early in practice, finding the Ferrari SF21 car to be much different around the Monaco streets compared to the McLaren he raced last time out.
“I was used to a different car around here, last time I was in Monaco, with a very different balance,” Sainz explained.
“Now I arrive here and the balance that Ferrari try to chase here is quite different, and I had to re-adapt, get my references back, change a bit the driving style, and build the confidence up little by little.
“But what it was important is every time I went across the start/finish, I could see myself always in the top three positions, fighting there.”
Related video

Verstappen: Red Bull 'very weak' compared to Ferrari in Monaco F1 practice
F1 Monaco GP qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more

Latest news
Norris had to adjust to 2022 McLaren F1 car that was "very unsuited for me"
Lando Norris believes he has done a “reasonable job” adjusting to the 2022 McLaren Formula 1 car that is “very unsuited” to his driving style.
Top 10 Arrows F1 drivers ranked: Hill, Warwick, Fittipaldi and more
No Formula 1 team has started more races without winning one than Arrows, although it came close on several occasions. Twenty years on from the team's demise, Autosport takes on the task of ranking its best drivers
How Storm Eunice delayed Mercedes' F1 porpoising alarm
Mercedes only got a full grasp of how severe its porpoising issues were in Formula 1 pre-season testing after Storm Eunice impacted its first 2022 car shakedown at Silverstone.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbonfibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? PAT SYMONDS considers the alternatives to carbonfibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting