Sainz: Silverstone "good reference" on my progress with Ferrari F1 car

After struggling to adapt to the car in the first part of the season, Sainz had strong weekends in both Monaco and Baku before a valiant but unsuccessful chase of Max Verstappen in Montreal saw him finish runner-up.

The Spaniard says that, after the three street or temporary tracks, Silverstone is more akin to Barcelona, the last venue where he really had a difficult time with the car.

Sainz acknowledged that while his recent run of form has been encouraging, this weekend will be a useful test of how much progress he has really made.

"Yeah, I'm a bit more excited, not only from Canada, but also Baku, Monaco, I've had a few decent weekends on the car now," he said when asked by Motorsport.com if Montreal had provided a confidence boost.

"I think Silverstone is going to represent more of a challenge, because it's closer to what Barcelona was, which is the circuit that I've struggled the most up until now.

"So I think it's going to be a good reference for me to see how much I've moved on, and how much have I really improved with this car. Because definitely since Monaco I felt a lot closer and a lot more comfortable with the car."

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Sainz, who has had a chassis change ahead of the British GP, also says he knows he has to be patient as he seeks that elusive first win.

"I want it more than anyone in the paddock, and I know a lot of people want that win also for me," he said.

"But I can tell you that in the times that I've come close, I've pushed flat out, and I've tried everything I could to get it. And I think I need to stay patient, I don't need to chase it, and I think it will come."

Asked if he thought he could still join the 2022 title fight, Sainz insisted it was possible if he can start to win races and score consistently.

"I don't look at the title fight too much," he said. "Mainly because I did fall away very early in the season with my two zeros, they were consecutive, and then another zero in Baku.

"Honestly, it put me quite far behind but if I focus on winning races, I think that will put me back in the fight.

"So my focus is going into race-by-race trying to be in the podium in every race trying to win them, and let's see where that puts me going into the final leg.

"But I don't look at the championship like crazy you know, I just look at it race by race, let's try and win that first one, then if not be in the podium in all of them, and then be consistent, go back to being the consistent Carlos that I've been in my recent years in F1, and then that should put me back on top."