Sainz: We want to maximize points, stop expecting a win or a podium

Ferrari started the 2022 season as Title contenders, but their challenge to Red Bull fizzled out as that season progressed with an array of reliability problems, as well as driver and team errors, while Red Bull went from strength to strength.

In 2023, Red Bull picked up from where they left and became an even formidable force in the form of the Max Verstappen/RB19 combo, while Ferrari did seem to have solved their issues, and to make matters worse, they now have to deal with the likes of Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin to fight for the second best position behind Red Bull.

That situation undoubtedly must hurt a team like Ferrari and their Tifosi, but Carlos Sainz insists on accepting the situation for now, try to maximize the results.

He said, quoted by Motorsport.com: "It's been obviously relatively a frustrating start when we kind of realized that Red Bull was such a big step ahead of us and it was going to be difficult to challenge them.

"I think we all expected the car to be more competitive, ourselves to be more competitive and the field has got really, really tight.

"Now you're going through these massive up and downs where some weekends you might be fighting for P3 and others you're just finishing P8, which in performance swing just might mean you are 0.1s in front missing or 0.1s behind that tight field, which is not a lot," he explained, echoing recent comments from Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur.

"But the end result looks very different in Ferrari when you come back with a P3 or P8. And now we just need to kind of accept that's the fight that we are in. If one weekend we need to go and fight for P5 and that's the maximum we can do, we need to celebrate the fact that we've done the maximum with what we have this year.

"[We need to] focus more on maximizing the car's potential, and the team's performance in this second half of the season," Sainz insisted.

"We want to make sure we maximize our constructor points, stop kind of expecting a win or a podium, and just focus on nailing the principles and be consistent," the Spaniard concluded.

Ferrari are fourth in the 2023 F1 Constructors' Standings, five points only behind Aston Martin in third. Mercedes are second while Red Bull are leading.