Ferrari: Sainz needs to put together 'an entire weekend'

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has been impressed by Carlos Sainz's adjustment to the Scuderia during his maiden season with the Italian outfit, but insists the Spaniard still needs to put together a clean race weekend.

Except for Portimao and Paul Ricard, Sainz has finished every race in the first half of the season among the top ten, performing the best among the drivers who switched teams over the winter.

The 26-year-old is currently sixth in the Drivers' standings, three points ahead of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, although it could be argued that the latter's non-start in Monaco likely deprived the local hero of a solid bag of points.

Ahead of F1's summer break, Sainz admitted that he had yet to put together a weekend void of any mistakes, and Binotto expects his driver to fulfill that objective on a regular basis in the second half of the season.

"What I'm expecting from him in the second half, I think he already said himself," said Binotto. "He has not been capable of putting together one entire weekend, so there is always a mistake here or there.

"Whether it is quali, start, or in the race. So I'm expecting that he will continue learning the team, continue learning the car. And soon, hopefully, he will put together an entire weekend, which I think is important for him."

Sainz's pace and good results, which have practically been on a par with those of Leclerc, have not come as a real surprise to Binotto as Ferrari had conducted an extensive due diligence review of the Spaniard in 2020 before his hiring.

• Read also - Carlos Sainz Sr: 'My presence in the paddock not necessary'

"I'm not surprised because when we decided, and contacted him with the offer, we made a lot of analysis and we knew that was a strong driver, we knew that he was a strong racer, we knew that he was very consistent in the race," said the Scuderia boss.

"And he was fast as well, he has proved to be fast, since he was in F1. We should not forget that his very first F1 season with STR his teammate was Max [Verstappen], and his very first year he was somehow doing well.

"And if we look as well at last year with Lando, again, he was doing very well and we know how Lando is strong and he is showing it as well in the current season so we are not surprised by how strong he is or how fast he is."

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