Ferrari's Carlos Sainz believes his good friend Lando Norris and McLaren "should be excited" about their prospects for Baku where the Scuderia expects to be outperformed by its top midfield rival.
Sainz's strong performance in qualifying last time out in Monaco prompted Norris to send Sainz a text message before the race in which he said that his former teammate might have a chance of winning in the Principality.
But ahead of this week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sainz is inclined to return the compliment.
"Going into Baku I think that we're not going to be the best on that long straight but at the same time if we can make the time back on the on the tight part then then we should be okay," said Sainz.
"I think the one who now should be excited about Baku is my friend Lando Norris, here on the left, because he has a rocket on the straight and the car's definitely not bad.
"It was not bad last year in Monza, not bad in Monaco. So maybe I will bet on you.
"You know, he put pressure [on me] before going into [the Monaco] weekend saying that I might have a chance to win. You were right course, now let's see if I'm right about Baku."
Ferrari's strong performance in Monaco, where Charles Leclerc took pole before a driveshaft failure sidelined the Monegasque from his home race, was achieved on a track that has little in common with Baku aside from its street circuit profile.
The latter is significantly faster and features the longest straight of all tracks on the calendar, a 2.2-kilometer stretch on which cars can reach a top speed of over 340 km/h.
Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies believes that Baku's configuration will leave the Scuderia's SF21 at a disadvantage against Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, and see the Italian outfit fall into the clutches of Alpine, Aston Martin or AlphaTauri.
But Mekies also warns that Baku will open up a series of "complicated" venues for Ferrari.
"Now begins a part of the season that promises to be complicated for us," said Mekies.
"If in Spain the SF21 was clearly the third best in the field and in Monaco even showed the potential to win, the situation is set to be different in the next races, starting with Baku.
"Already this weekend [in Baku] we expect a very strong McLaren, which should adapt very well to the characteristics of the circuit and therefore take the leadership of the group behind the two teams fighting for the world championship.
"We also believe that Alpine, AlphaTauri and Aston Martin will also be very competitive.
"Our main goal will be to express all the potential available and try to make the most of every opportunity.
"To use a football metaphor, we will try to make a good defence and hit on counter-attack."
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