Carlos Sainz fires Max Verstappen & Charles Leclerc warning in title race

Carlos Sainz says he feels as though it won’t be long before he irons out the issues he has had with his Ferrari and joins the title fight with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

The Spaniard finished third at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, with him unable to join the fight the front two were having for the race victory.

This time, Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc to the line and the feeling is it could be those two that battle for the title, though Sainz will have other ideas of course.

Speaking after Bahrain, he said that he felt he had quite a bit of work to do to get on top of the new Ferrari and the way it runs but, after Saudi, he cut a much more positive figure in that regard.

And, that said, he has warned Verstappen and Leclerc it won’t be long until he is fighting them for race victories:

“I was happier than in Bahrain, definitely. There’s been a bit of progress done from my side of the garage with the feeling of the car.

“Having the opportunity to come back to this track, only 100 days after we were here with last year’s car, has given me a much clearer picture of the type of corner and the two or three corners that I’m still lacking with this car.

“It’s quite clear for me now. It has given me a great opportunity to understand fully the magnitude of how much I need to adapt and how much I need to get the car a bit more to my liking, and I felt like, today, we did a small step in the right direction.

“While I’m still not 100 percent with the car, to keep bringing the points and the podiums is important until I get back to 100 percent – and then it will be time to join these guys at the top for the fight.”