Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has downplayed Mercedes’ claims that the Prancing Horse is the favourite this year.
Carlos Sainz believes that Mercedes is attempting to hype up Ferrari even before the season begins. The Spanish driver then explained that it was ‘typical’ of the Mercedes duo to heap praise on others before running away with the victories when the season begins.
The final pre-season test at Bahrain had been another good one for the Ferrari team, which has maintained the momentum following a strong showing at Barcelona last month.
However, Sainz isn’t prepared to believe any hype that is created by his rivals. In fact, the 27-year-old has claimed that Mercedes have had a trend over the last few years where they often deem their rivals to be better than them until the season opener.
Carlos Sainz downplays Hamilton and Russell’s comments about Ferrari
On Thursday, Mercedes’s recruit George Russell said that Ferrari was his favorites for the upcoming season. Just a day later, his teammate Lewis Hamilton admitted that the Italian manufacturer was on course to complete a 1-2 at the Bahrain GP.
But Sainz has refused to believe any of the hype created by his rivals. While speaking to reports on the rising expectation levels, the Ferrari star said, “I think it is typical Mercedes. Hyping up the others, and then we come to the first race and they blow the competition away, which is typical.”
Sainz then added that the Mercedes had already used this tactic in the recent past and it worked well in their favour. “If it had would be the first year they’ve done it then I would maybe believe them, but they’ve done it for five six years now and they keep [performing] in the first race. So, as you can imagine I don’t think much [of the comments] and yes, already in GPS [data] we can also see what they are doing.” he added.
While Sainz isn’t ready to believe the hype created by Mercedes, the British manufacturer did appear to struggle a bit with its car during the pre-season testing in Bahrain.
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