Carlos Sainz believes that Ferrari’s pace was stronger than what its results reflected in last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc and Sainz qualified respectively fourth and fifth on Saturday, the Scuderia pair outpacing its Mercedes rivals.
Although Leclerc was able to hold his own all afternoon to conclude his race in fourth position, Sainz lost out to both George Russell and Hamilton after his final pit stop, having opted to extend his second stint on the medium tyre.
The Spaniard, running on fresher rubber than his rivals, was eventually able to regain the upper hand over Russell after Mercedes swapped its drivers.
But despite his best efforts, Hamilton remained out of his reach during the final stages of the 53-lap race.
In Sainz’s view, his SF-23’s absolute pace was worth more than its sixth-place position at the checkered flag.
"We had better pace than the results show," he said after last Sunday’s event.
"I think we were very quick straight from the start, the first stint I felt like I had a bit more pace than the guys in front.
"I managed my tyres well, but obviously being behind in track position is always gonna cost you, especially being difficult in Suzuka to overtake.
"I felt back to normal, as soon as I got up into a rhythm I understood the car well. A shame about the last pitstop as it cost us quite a bit of race time, but it is what it is."
Sainz said that Ferrari had “played it safe” by extending his stint on the medium, and also because the Spaniard’s pace was strong on the yellow-rimmed tyres.
Furthermore, the Scuderia’s efforts in past months to mitigate its car’s tyre decoration issues appeared to bear fruit, with relatively little deg observed in the race.
"A bit surprised at how little degradation we got in the first stint, when everyone boxed out of the way, my in-lap was very quick," added Sainz.
"But we decided to play safe and we stayed out to protect from Hamilton and Alonso, but it was a bit lower degradation than expected as I could manage my tyres as well.
"Now we need to focus on and keep doing a good job there, because I feel like we had more pace than others."
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