MADRID, 24 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) is not “dissatisfied” with his performance in a season that is being a “roller coaster”, slowed down in a certain way by the mistakes of the Madrid driver, his teammate, Charles Leclerc, “and of the team”, although he insisted that the “self-criticism” is done “from behind closed doors” to protect themselves, since “pointing is never good in a team that wants to fight for the World Cup next year”.
“You can never be satisfied, especially in a season where all kinds of things have happened to me. My first victory has come, there have been many podiums, many good moments, but there has been everything. There have been ‘zeroes’ at the beginning that They dropped a lot from the World Cup. And when everything started to go better, the ‘zero’ came in Austria, when my engine burned out, and I lost a bit of camber. In general, I can’t be unhappy either, it sure helps us to try next year with better experience”, said Sainz about these first 16 races in an interview with Europa Press at an Estrella Galicia 0,0 event.
The man from Madrid, who is in his second year at Ferrari, preferred not to rate his performance, although he acknowledged that “it has been a difficult year to manage mentally.” “We started with the low, then the high of Silverstone, then the low of Austria… It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but in a driver’s career there will always be better years and more difficult ones. This will give me experience, it’s the first I’ve had the opportunity to fight for victory and the World Cup, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot”, he stressed optimistically.
“Austria was a key moment for me, I came from three consecutive podiums, I was in the fight for victory and lost 18 safe points there… And the obligation to have to penalize in France and Monza affected the progression I had a bit. Despite those difficult moments, I continue to go better, I am more and more comfortable and the results are coming”, recalled Sainz as the most difficult moment for him, in order to fight for the title.
In this second season with the Italian team, the Spaniard has had to retire four times, while he has been on the podium seven times, with three third places, two seconds and one victory, at Silverstone, the first of his sports career. “Above all, it generates motivation and desire for it to happen. I wanted it to happen as soon as possible, and it has given me the energy and the desire for the second to happen as soon as possible,” he explained.
“WE HAVE SET THE OBJECTIVE OF BEING MORE PERFECT IN THESE 6 RACES”
“After trying the first (victory) you already know how you feel. I have never felt as much frustration as when you are fighting for a good result and anything happens,” he reflected on mechanical and strategy problems that prevented him from being in the shortlist for more wins.
For the final stretch of the 2022 World Cup -Singapore, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi-, Sainz revealed that his goal and that of Ferrari is “to be more perfect and learn for next year”. “2023 can be a great opportunity against two great teams that are Red Bull and Mercedes,” he commented.
Although he acknowledged that the level shown by the Dutchman Max Verstappen this year is “10”. “If you want to beat them you have to do it perfectly, that’s what we set ourselves as a goal,” he remarked, because the reigning champion “has a team like Ferrari in front of them that will try to stand up to them in every race”, in addition to Mercedes, with “a high level in this second part of the season.
And one of the aspects that the man from Madrid is working on to continue improving is his pace in the race, the “challenge” of this season. “There are cars that for some reason give you a better ‘feeling’ in qualifying and in the race they have things that you have to learn or know how to handle better, you have to take the car to your ground and that is a job that cannot be changed in a race. Every year there is always one thing in which he has to improve,” he explained.
Finally, Sainz valued the decision of the also Spanish Fernando Alonso, currently an Alpine driver, who will change course to Aston Martin next season, after starring in one of the ‘soap operas’ of the summer.
“He caught me on vacation, I didn’t follow him much. I see Fernando eager and calm with his new project. Sooner or later Aston Martin will have to be up there, it has the budget, the people and the capacity. I hope for Fernando, that it will be as soon as possible,” he said.
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