Carlos Sainz believes it is “only a matter of time” before he matches Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc’s one-lap pace after drop𓆏ping out in Q2 during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Pr❀ix.

Sainz could only manage 11th in qualifying at Imola, while Leclerc qualified fourth🐼 for the 𝄹second race in succession.

The Spaniard is confident he has the capability of matching Leclerc in qua๊lifying but needs more time to adapt to the Ferrari SF21.

“Yes, exactly. I know he’s a qualifying expert and, particularly on the Ferrari he seems to be really at home, knowing exactly what to exp💮ect from the car when it comes to Q2 and Q3, high grip conditions – he’s an expert, a very, very good driver – but at the same time if there’s something I’ve seen in these first two races is that I’m not slower than him in any co🃏rner.

“I know tha🌌t if I put the lap together I can be up there, so it’s now a matter of focusing on how to put those laps together, what does he do and what can I do to get better at putting those laps together. Maybe I just need more time and more experience. 🔥Let’s see, but I’m encouraged by what I see on the data, and it’s only a matter of time.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s racཧe, Leclerc feels Ferrari is in a better position to maintain its strong qualifying performance after struggling for race pace in the Bahrain season-openerꦺ.

“Yeah, I mean yesterday I belie𒀰ved that we could have done very well,” Leclerc added. “T🉐oday after this morning I had a bit more doubt as McLaren seemed competitive then in quali Lando was more competitive but overall we were quite good, but P4 is a good starting point for tomorrow’s race.

“I think we will ౠbe better here in the race if we compare 🃏to Bahrain, just because of the conditions, we struggled with the warm conditions in Bahrain but we are more confident going into the race tomorrow.”