Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz is confident he made an important step forward at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend, but at the same time Carlos has pinpointed the key areas where he still needs to improve in order to march his Maranello team-mate Charles Leclerc like he did last season, when in fact he outscored the Monegasque driver. However, unlike in his first campaign with Scuderia Ferrari, this year it seems Carlos has found adapting to the F1-75 a bit more difficult, based on what could be seen in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
While Charles Leclerc was able to get involved in the fight for the race win with Max in both round of the 2022 Formula One season, Carlos Sainz had to settle for a place behind them. He finished second at the Bahrain circuit when Max Verstappen had to retire in the final laps and was third in Jeddah, unable to match the pace of the first two. Carlos Sainz descriebd the first round in Bahrain as the “most difficult weekend of my Ferrari career” but confirmed the race day in Jeddah was the high point of his 2022 so far.
“The technicalities and the specifics need to stay in the team for the sake of privacy and not giving away too much,” Carlos Sainz replied when asked about his difficulties in this start of the season – “I think this is something so specific and so technical, that it will be very difficult to explain to you guys in the media and I think we need to keep a level of privacy in these kind of things. But I can already tell you that for me, this has been the best experience this year so far. Just going to a track [Jeddah] that 100 days ago I was here with a super high level of confidence with last year’s car, I was super quick in qualifying and in the race, and I knew exactly what to expect from the car and what the car was giving me. A hundred days later I come back and in corners where last year I was very strong this year I seem to be struggling quite a bit more, and I’m not driving the car the way that it should be driven – together with the car is not giving me exactly a feeling that I need for my driving. These two combinations of things are the things that I’m working on.” – he explained.
Carlos Sainz was fastest in Q1 and Q2 at the Jeddah street track before qualifying third behind his team-mate Leclerc and polesitter Sergio Perez, stating that his preference for used soft tyres with last weekend’s Ferrari set-up over fresh softs cost him pole. Ahead of the event on Sunday, Carlos Sainz’s F1-75 challenger seemed to have a technical issue with a suspected loom problem he wouldn’t disclose details of, but he could eventually take part in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spanish driver lost an important place at the start, being demoted to fourth after Max Verstappen passed him in the first corners, but regaind P3 when Sergio Perez was forced to give him back the position for overtaking under the safety car: “This weekend I think I’ve made a step forward and I made a step in the right direction for the race. But I must say that has also given me the awareness of the two or three types of corner, the two or three places that last year I was feeling so confident and comfortable and that this year I’m not. And it has given me two data points to work on and become stronger for the future.” – the Ferrari driver added.
Carlos Sainz had a better opportunity to work out those differences in Jeddah than in Bahrain because last year’s Bahrain GP was his first race with the Maranello team, while the 2021 Saudi GP was scheduled in the end of the season, with just three races ago in December and remains one of his best race performances, even if the end result of eighth may show otherwise: “This weekend gives me hope that if we keep working like this then I should just keep getting better and better every race. It might need a bit of more trial and error, try in one direction, maybe not getting it right and coming back.”
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Carlos Sainz can still be happy with the two podium finishes in this start of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign and sits 12 points adrift of his championship-leading team-mate and eight ahead of Saudi GP winner Max Verstappen: “I’m still not 100% with the car, so to keep bringing the points and the podiums is important until I will get back to 100% and it will be time to join these guys at the top for the fight [for wins].” – the Spanish driver concluded.
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