Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto expects a "pretty strong" response from Carlos Sainz after a tough weekend in Australia.
The Scuderia has emerged as the early pacesetter in 2022, with Charles Leclerc winning two of the first three races to open up a 34-point lead over Mercedes driver George Russell.
In contrast, Sainz has struggled to adapt to the Ferrari F1-75 leading some to wonder if the Spaniard is already destined to play a support role to his Monegasque teammate.
“They are free to fight,” Binotto told Sky Sports F1 ruling out the possibility.
“That is important for us. I think for Carlos, the situation will improve with both the speed and the pace, it will come back. I will enjoy then, the back and forth for position [between the two].”
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Indeed, Sainz hasn't necessarily been a slouch compared to Leclerc, instead, it has been luck that has played a key role, particularly in Melbourne.
“It was important to prove that he was fast again coming here to Australia and he was fast on Friday and again on Saturday morning," Binotto said.
“Then with the qualifying and the race then maybe he has been a bit unlucky. There was a problem with the steering wheel on the grid. These things should not happen but they do.
“But I know Carlos and he will come back and come back pretty strong. I’m just looking forward to Imola now to see his speed again.”
As for Sainz himself, he also recognises the high bar Leclerc is setting this season and realises it is up to him to match it.
“Charles is driving very well, he has understood this car very well and he’s doing great things with it,” he acknowledged.
“Of course, it’s a great car, but I also believe he’s putting together some very strong races and very strong performances.
“I was excited about qualy and the race [in Australia], just to see how much progress I had made. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
“There was always going to be one race when things didn’t go my way and when I would end up doing a mistake. So now the important thing is to learn from it.
“The important thing is just to come back to try and be more perfect and try to look into every single detail more because, with the car, we have this year, I feel like every race you don’t finish, you will lose a lot of points you could have scored.”
