Ferrari’s weekend in Barcelona started out quite well with a pole and a P3 on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

The F1-75, however, struggled a lot with pace during the simulations in Friday’s practices.

While Leclerc closed a fantastic last lap that put him in front of everyone this afternoon, after recovering from a spin, his teammate Carlos Sainz found it quite harder to handle the rear of the car.

"I do find it a bit tricky, snappier and a bit more pointy than last year's car,” he explained at the end of qualifying.

"Obviously, that's one of the reasons why probably I'm still not quite there. I can see Charles is obviously happier with it and playing with it a lot more than I am.”

The Spaniard is sure that is the reason why he is losing lap time compared to Leclerc, who seems to have adapted quite well.

"[That is] giving him that lap time edge over me recently. But it's a fast car, which is the important thing,” continued Sainz.

"I just need to get used to it, used to this feeling of playing with the rear a lot more. I'm doing my homework in the simulator and at the track every time I go out.”

Today his best lap was 0.416s slower then the pole man’s, as he struggled with rear tyre degradation as well.

Nonetheless he is rather confident that he will be able to find a good balance.

"I try to push myself to get used to this balance, but I will get there."

🇪🇸 P3. Struggling a bit with the rear, but feeling positive because the upgrades seem to work well. Thank you to the mechanics for changing the chassis overnight and to every fan, the track was packed! We'll try to fight for the win tomorrow!

👉https://t.co/ZD7qFBo46n pic.twitter.com/6LSiGZMAon

— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) May 21, 2022

The grid for tomorrow’s #SpanishGP is set and it’s an exciting one 👊

P1 @Charles_Leclerc
P3 @CarlosSainz55 #essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/yHxIxcdb6W

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 21, 2022