Carlos Sainz reckons that Ferrari's execution of races and strategy has kept it in the Formula 1 constructors' title hunt, despite a "poor" middle part of the season.
Amid expectations that McLaren will surpass Red Bull in the constructors' championship standings owing to their respective performance shifts and current eight-point difference, Ferrari also remains involved in the title battle as it only sits 39 points behind Red Bull in the standings.
Sainz admitted surprise that Ferrari still had an outside chance to win the teams' title despite the difficulties the team had faced since winning in Monaco, feeling that the team has improved greatly in race management terms.
The Spaniard explained that the team - and, by association, the drivers - had made the most of the car despite a sudden decline in performance over the Montreal weekend, and the bouncing issues exacerbated by the upgrades produced for Barcelona.
"Yes, I am surprised, because I don't know how many races there's been between Monaco and Monza, but it's one third of the season maybe," said Sainz.
"We had a strong first third, bad second third, and now we are entering the last third of the season. We've had a poor middle part of the season and we are still in the fight.
"It shows how far this team has come in terms of executing well, managing to score points even when the car is not performing like it did at the beginning of the season or like it did in Monza.
"And that's kept us in the fight. I think the two drivers are also performing because I think we are both very consistent. We're always next to each other, we're always helping each other, we're always scoring points, the two of us maximising the car.
"I think we are doing a solid year all together and this has kept us with good race management by the team and good race execution with the team and drivers in the fight in a difficult season. Let's see if now we have that same performance as in Monza and Monaco and we can keep going for it."
Asked if it meant that the Azerbaijan and Singapore races - considered Ferrari's strongest venues owing to the plethora of 90-degree corners - could set the team on a good run, Sainz suggested that it could help the team continue to address the deficit.
Regardless, he warned against it defining the formbook as he expected the team to come back down to earth at Austin.
"Yeah, it gives us a good run but at the same time it's maybe a fake one, because when you go back to Austin and the car is like it was in Zandvoort then you're lacking," he added.
"I'm going to go race by race and just see where it takes us. When we are within a tenth of each other, it's impossible to predict where you're going to be. You're going to be a tenth in front or a tenth behind.
"It's impossible to know. So go race by race, trying to maximise those tracks that potentially seem to be a bit better for you. Try to execute a good weekend. The weekends that are going to be tougher and [we will] see where we are at the end of the year."
