Carlos Sainz explains ‘positive and encouraging signs’ from 2021 Bahrain GP. Carlos looks back at the Bahrain GP.

Carlos Sainz’s first race was a display of controlled planning. He aimed to keep himself out of trouble, he accumulated precious kilometers, he hinted at the tactical intelligence already shown in McLaren by exploiting every opportunity at his disposal. Except for the start, where he was too conservative, he went through all the stages of the Grand Prix positively (including the pits and tyre degradation) and took home a good result (the points) without overdoing it.

“In the first few laps I was able to start feeling the car’s behavior when it is in dirty air. The fact that two slower cars overtook me, like the Aston Martin and the Alpine (Stroll and Alonso), affected the first stint and I was very far from the McLarens. But I had a great pace with medium and hard tires and I was able to recover. Indeed, I would dare to say that I had a better pace than the McLarens. There will be time to attack at the start as in the past, but it was too important for me to complete this first race. I see potential in this car, especially in the race I felt very comfortable. In the second and third stint and with cleaner air, I think I was one of the fastest. I have to be positive and keep learning, there will be time to return to attack because this has never been a problem for me. I have to know the car, how it behaves in the race and so on to be more aggressive” – Carlos Sainz told the Spanish newspaper AS.

A real manifesto, that of Carlos Sainz, in the name of the progressive approach. It is not exactly common to see a driver so obviously careful not to overdo it in the name of a better future pace. However Carlos Sainz made no excuses and explained exactly why he chose to approach his Bahrain race in this way.

According to number 55, Ferrari’s improvement can be clearly seen: “At the end of last year I remember easily overtaking Charles when I was at McLaren. On Sunday in the last stages I was gaining about a second per lap on Ricciardo (who, however, like him, changed teams, presumably maintaining an equally conservative approach). So there are positive signs and it is encouraging. It’s about finding details, working hard at Maranello and continuing to improve. We want to take the next step, also focusing on 2022.” – the Spanish driver explained.