Sainz laments Ferrari 'inconsistencies' for race he 'didn't enjoy at all'

Carlos Sainz has lamented multiple problems with his Ferrari which disrupted his Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Italian team brought a raft of upgrades to Imola, but the Spanish driver was unable to get the most out of the updated package due to detecting an issue after qualifying "that might not have been working as expected", and some problems with battery deployment during the race.

Having lined up fourth on the grid, the 29-year-old brought his Ferrari home in fifth after a quiet race. Team-mate Charles Leclerc started and finished in third, to take Ferrari's first podium finish at Imola since Michael Schumacher won for the Scuderia in 2006.

"Today, simply, we were lacking quite a lot of pace," Sainz explained to media including RacingNews365. "Not very happy because I'm pretty sure after quali[fying] yesterday, we saw something in the car that might not have been working as expected.

"We also had some issues with deployment, so today was a bit of [a] damage limitation race for me after what we saw yesterday. 

"Honestly not happy because we've been all weekend lagging a bit and a bit behind - a couple of tenths [of a second] too slow, which is not ideal. Having said that, P5 and the race how it went - it's not like much happened."

'A struggling race that I didn't enjoy at all'

In the early stages of the race, Sainz was able to hold Oscar Piastri at bay - with the McLaren starting behind the Ferraris after being demoted from second on the grid after impeding Kevin Magnussen in qualifying.

However, that work was undone when the Australian used the under-cut to his advantage, jumping Sainz during pit stops with Ferrari slow to react.

Despite the disappointment of a weekend that promised more than it ultimately delivered, the three-time grand prix winner denied the problems were related to the developments brought to Imola by the team.

"Something on the other side that we need to look into and also with the deployment," he replied when asked if the issues he experienced were due to set up, as opposed to the Ferrari upgrades.

"Some issues during the whole race that was holding me back, especially in the first stint, so something to look at.

“[It was] a struggling race that I didn't enjoy at all with inconsistencies on the car side, I was struggling a lot out there."