Carlos Sainz labeled as "encouraging" Ferrari's start to its pre-season testing, but the Spaniard says the Italian outfit is "nowhere near the limit" of its new-spec F1-75 car.
Sainz concluded his Thursday morning stint with the second fastest time, a handful of tenths behind McLaren pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo.
But in the afternoon, teammate Charles Leclerc vaulted to the top of the timesheet, the Monegasque validating again the strong pace and reliability of its 2022 contender.
"It's been a good start in terms of reliability," commented Sainz after Thursday's lunchbreak.
"We've managed to complete one day and a half of testing without pretty much any single issue, which is an encouraging start for us. This is what we're here for in Barcelona.
©Ferrari
"Unfortunately for you guys, it's not very exciting because we are nowhere near to the limit of the car or finding where the performances is. But we're doing laps, and we're completing them nicely."
While Ferrari's rivals and F1 pundits have been impressed at the outset with the Maranello squad's strong form, for Sainz it felt like a "normal start" to business.
"It feels not like a good start in terms of feeling, but a normal start," he said.
"I would call it a normal start because we didn't have any single problems so far, and I managed to do a whole run plan.
"As I said, if it's good or bad I don't know because these F1 cars, by adding fuel or taking out fuel, I can go three or four seconds faster or slower.
"So, where do I stand in those three to four seconds window? If I started in the middle then where are the others? It is impossible to predict.
"So times, when you're two tenths off Daniel [Ricciardo] this morning, or having three or four seconds of margin up or down, is impossible to know."
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