Sainz: Leclerc making Ferrari look the quickest F1 car in Baku

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has praised teammate Charles Leclerc for making the Italian team look like the quickest team on the Formula 1 grid at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Leclerc claimed a dominant pole position in Baku on Saturday, before leading away from the start of the race and controlling proceedings until a late Safety Car threw a spanner in the works.

The Monegasque driver eventually finished fourth, behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' George Russell, but Sainz believes that Ferrari had the pace to win the race.

"We saw yesterday that we were the quickest car on track," Sainz said. "Charles did an amazing lap and showed that the car is there, it's quick."

"We need to understand why we couldn't execute today, why we couldn't get the one-two and why we couldn't get the win today," he added.

Sainz himself had a difficult race, starting from ninth on the grid after a penalty for a red-flag infringement in qualifying. He made up a few places at the start, but then got stuck behind Fernando Alonso's Alpine for much of the race.

He eventually finished eighth, but admitted that he was disappointed with his performance.

"It was a tough race," Sainz said. "I didn't have the pace to overtake Fernando, and I couldn't get into the points."

"I'm disappointed with my performance, but I'm also proud of the team," he added. "We showed that we have the pace to win races, and we just need to put it all together."