Sainz: A very solid race

While the Japanese GP may have served as a reality check for Ferrari and Sainz after their win in Melbourne, the fact remains that the SF-24 is a much better car than its predecessor, kind on its tyres during races, while the Red pit wall seems to be more slick in devising their strategies, evident by Charles Leclerc's rise from eighth on the grid to fourth.

While McLaren won the qualifying battle, Lando Norris starting third, Sainz was able to overhaul the Briton and take the final podium position after some strong race pace as well as a spot on strategy.

Speaking in Ferrari's race report, Sainz said: "It was a good day for the whole team. We executed a very solid race and brought home a lot of points, maximising the potential of our package.

"A strong couple of starts kept me in a good position and from there onwards we managed it perfectly with very strong pace on both compounds and good overtakes to make the strategy work.

"We obviously want to fight a bit further up, but if we keep pushing like this, I’m sure we will have more opportunities.

"Now it’s back to the factory with the team and from tomorrow we’ll start preparing for China," the Spaniard concluded.

Leclerc added: "Looking just at today’s race, I’m quite happy, because there is nothing that we could have done better. Our pace, tyre management, communication and strategy were all really good.

"However, what prevented us from getting a better overall result mostly comes down to our qualifying yesterday.

"Since Australia, we’ve had some difficulties putting the tyres in the right window on the out laps in qualifying, which is something we never struggled with before, so we really have to focus on that in the next few days to make sure we can put it all together in China," he explained.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur summed up his team's Japanese weekend, he said: "Today, our team worked in a calm and focused manner to achieve its goals.

"We made a real step forward over the winter and the results of that can be seen on track. We had a very solid Sunday, securing the best result possible after a difficult qualifying yesterday and that’s something we definitely have to work on.

"The team did everything perfectly in the race, from strategy to tyre management. Both drivers did an excellent job in managing their respective strategies. With Carlos starting nearer the front we could be more aggressive so that he finished on a charge, pulling off several great passing moves.

"We were a bit more limited with Charles, as he was down in eighth on the grid," the Frenchman pointed out, "but he drove an excellent first stint and so we were able to execute a one-stop strategy that meant he made up a lot of places.

"Looking at the result, it’s clear there is still room for improvement if we want to put Red Bull under pressure and that’s what we’d like to do as from the next round in China," Vasseur concluded.