F1 News

carlos sainz preview of italian grand prix

Sainz optimistic: 'Can be second or third fastest car at Monza'

29 August 2023 at 08:55
Last update 29 August 2023 at 11:22
  • Ludo van Denderen

The most important race weekend of the year is coming up for Ferrari. The Italian Grand Prix is normally the highlight of the season for the team of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with tens of thousands of fans cheering for a home win by the red brigade. In advance, however, Sainz has not too many illusions about a win.

At Zandvoort, Ferrari struggled, with Sainz only finishing in fifth place. Leclerc did not see the checkered flag. Fortunately for the Italians, Monza's layout is completely different from that of the circuit in the Netherlands. High speeds are being reached on the home track of the Scuderia, as was the case at Spa, for example. There, Ferrari had a positive weekend, resulting in a podium finish for Leclerc. That at least gives Sainz hope for a good result next weekend, he told GPblog and others.

Sainz optimistic about Ferrari speed

"Monza, I think we should be back to a decent pace. I know it sounds positive or optimistic right now, but our performance since this year is so high that we could also be looking at being back to second or third fastest car in Monza in front of the Tifosi, especially after such a good result in Spa last time out. I'm more optimistic about that," said the Spaniard.

In Italy, expectations for next weekend are low. In a year that has yet to see a Ferrari victory, the pink Gazzetta dello Sport headlined on Monday: 'Dreaming of a miracle'. The Italian newspaper expects Red Bull Racing to be superior at Monza too.