Sainz ended up as Max Verstappen’s closest challenger for pole position in qualifying at Barcelona on Saturday, where Perez was eliminated in Q2 in the second Red Bull.
Perez could not match Verstappen’s pace or confidence on the slippery track surface – doused in rain during FP3 and still greasy when Q1 got going amid spots of rain falling at the southern end of the circuit.
After Perez made a trip through the Turn 5 exit gravel late in Q2, he could not rally to progress to Q3, where a final flier elevated Sainz to second behind Verstappen.
But Sainz fears Red Bull’s pace in a dry Barcelona race is so superior that Perez could yet charge through the pack, as Verstappen was lapping an average of 0.539s quicker than the Ferraris on FP2 high-fuel runs.
“It will be still tough to get [second in the race],” Sainz told in the post-qualifying press conference. “Especially with Checo coming from P11 with a Red Bull.
“I think as soon as I get back to the engineers, they will tell me that the simulation suggests that the Red Bulls should still finish ahead of us.
“And then it will be a fight with Lando [Norris, third in qualifying for McLaren] and the Mercedes.
“The Aston [Martins too]. I don’t know exactly what happened to them today, but they normally have really good race pace.
“So, I still think it’s going to be a tough call to get a podium tomorrow.
“We’ve put ourselves in the best possible position to achieve that, but I still think it’s going to be a good fight for me tomorrow.”
Barcelona has one of the longest runs to a first corner on the F1 calendar and both Verstappen and Perez have lost early race leads from pole to fast-starting rivals so far in 2023.
When asked about the possibility of attacking Verstappen into Turn 1 at the start, Sainz replied: “I wouldn’t have minded if Lewis [Hamilton, fifth for Mercedes in qualifying] or Lando had outqualified me because here the clean side is a bit better for the start.
“At the same time, it’s also all about the tow and how lucky you get if you can get a tow or a run down to Turn 1.
“Obviously I will try to give it all in Turn 1 and go and get that podium and if Max does something strange, get a win.”
