Carlos Sainz says he isn’t surprised by the fact Lewis Hamilton has not yet fully gelled with Ferrari, opening up on the challenges of a team swap.

Sainz moved from Ferrari to Williams over the winter, with Hamilton moving from Mercedes to Ferrari – with both drivers struggling to initially gel with their new steeds.

Carlos Sainz: There are no secrets in Formula 1

The change in teams has meant a period of acclimatisation for both drivers, with Sainz showing signs that he’s getting to grips with Williams as he raced to eighth place in Saudi Arabia ahead of teammate Alex Albon.

But Lewis Hamilton has been morose in recent weeks. Aside from victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint, the seven-time F1 World Champion has been thoroughly outshone by teammate Charles Leclerc, and Sainz was asked about the tribulations of the Ferrari driver – the Spaniard having full knowledge of the challenge Hamilton is facing.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Sainz told media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I think, for me, I expected it for myself and I expected it with him – because in this sport, there are no secrets, and, when you are up against two teammates that we are like Alex and Charles, they know the team inside out.

“They are already performing at the maximum that that car can perform. So you can only do just a little bit better or the same as them. You cannot suddenly arrive and be two to three-tenths quicker, because it’s not possible. They are already at the limit of the car.

“So, when you jump to a new team and you’re expected, by yourself and by everyone around you to be at that level, you know it’s gonna take time.

“If there are no secrets, they know a lot more than you and that is gonna take a bit of time. The sooner you make that process, and the sooner you are at that level, the better.

“But, for some drivers, it might take longer or shorter. Lewis had an amazing weekend in China, then he seemed to be having a bit more trouble now, but it’s gonna take time for both.”

The period of adjustment will likely vary from driver to driver, Sainz said, who has been frank about the possibility of needing half a season to get comfortable with a new car, even for a driver as experienced as himself.

“It’s a tricky question because it depends – depends on how natural the car comes to you, and how natural the relationship with engineers and that blend comes,” he said.

“I’ve always said that, to know a car well, you need at least half a year to a year to experience everything with that car. That doesn’t mean that you cannot perform during that year. This is a different topic.

“Nowadays, you can perform at 100% or at 99% and your 99% might still be pretty good, but the 100%, for sure, there are things that you need for sure, half a year, I would say, to experience.

“I’m not using it as an excuse. I want to perform like I did in Jeddah from race one, even if I am at 97% instead of 99%. I just know it takes time, and I’m gonna be demanding of myself.”

The issue of adjusting, he explained, is exacerbated by the peculiar driving requirements of the current ground-effect cars, with Sainz saying the cars of today don’t allow for much variety in terms of how they’re driven.

“Nowadays, I feel like you need to drive them in a very specific way to be quick,” he said.

“I feel like the cars of 2021, you could come in with two or three different diving styles, and more or less get to a sim lap time, because the car would allow you to get to that limit in different ways.

“I feel the more I get to drive this generation of cars, the more I dig into the data, the more I realise you need to be closed loop to one driving style and, if you don’t drive in that way, you’re never gonna be quick.

“It’s just how the car interacts with you which allows you to drive in that specific way that you need to make sure you understand. I think these cars are particularly difficult.”

Hamilton has been open about needing to adjust to engine braking with Ferrari, something he never encountered while racing with Mercedes power units during his near-two decades in Formula 1.

Sainz has moved the other way, going from Ferrari to Mercedes power, and he said this characteristic is just one of many differences drivers changing teams need to compensate for.

“For me, this is just one of the 15 things that you have to relearn,” he said.

“Some teams like to use engine braking to turn the car. Others just prefer using the differential more. Others prefer to use the brake migration. Others more the setup of the car and naturally put front end with idle, others with mechanical, others with pitch, others with the ride.

“You cannot imagine the amount of variation that you can just make the car get to a similar lap time in just completely different ways.

“For sure, that might be one of the things, but one of the 15/20 things that I’m trying to still figure out. Of course, I’m trying high engine braking in Williams to see if it works. I’m trying low… I’m trying differential maps, I’m trying mechanical balance and trying everything every weekend, just to see what the car likes and what it doesn’t.

“There are things that suit your style, and others that don’t. I think it’s that fight and that process that I enjoy and that you’re gonna get wrong many times.

“But if, as long as you enjoy it and you just embrace it, you know you’re gonna get it wrong a few times, but you’re also gonna click and you go ‘this works’, this eureka moment feels good.”

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