Ferrari was praised for its sharp strategic decisions at last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, in which Charles Leclerc made a rare one-stopper work to move up from eighth to fourth.
Meanwhile, Sainz was able to cash in a longer second stint on medium tyres, ensuring he had fresher hard tyres in a shorter final stint to pass four cars and claim third.
But while Sainz acknowledged Ferrari's strategy department had made steps in recent seasons, he felt the biggest gains were simply the result of having a much better and more consistent race pace with its SF-24.
"We've made progress on strategy over the last three years, progressively, but if you see a jump this year on strategy, it's purely down to the car," Sainz replied when asked by Autosport about any strategy improvements.
"I think just having a car that allows you to have flexibility on strategy is something that last year we couldn't have, so we were boxed in to stop at certain laps."
Ferrari made great strides in solving its crippling race performance issues from last year, which meant Leclerc and Sainz were often helplessly sliding down the order despite qualifying strongly.
Source: Autosport