Carlos Sainz’s second season at the wheel of Ferrari was marked by the Spaniard’s success at the Silverstone circuit, in the British Grand Prix, a historic result for Carlos Sainz’s experience in the most important motor racing series. In addition to being his first race victory alongside the Maranello team, the 28-year-old from Madrid also climbed the top step of the podium in Formula 1 for the first time, succeeding seven years after his debut with Toro Rosso.
However, despite this memorable milestone, Carlos Sainz Jr.’s 2022 Formula One season was not entirely positive.
In an interview with motorsport-total.com, the former McLaren driver indicated what his biggest problems were, a situation that was even unprecedented if compared to that faced in recent years: “I’m not entirely satisfied with my season – he admitted – I won’t lie, the start to the season has been tougher than I expected. With all the cars I’ve driven, I’ve always given my best right from the start. It was the first time in my career that I found myself two or three tenths off the pace: I really had to roll up my sleeves to try and figure out where those tenths were. Charles Leclerc drove very well in the first half of the season, showing me that I still have my limits. I’ve reached a good level with this car and now this is the basis for next year.” – the Spaniard explained.
Apart from these specific difficulties, Carlos Sainz did not hide even a certain regret for some missed opportunities, as happened the day following the qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix: despite the fact that he started from pole position in Austin, Carlos was hit from behind by the Mercedes of George Russell on lap 1, retiring already at the first lap due to the damage suffered by his F1-75 car:
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“I think Austin would have gone very well without the accident with George – he added – we could have won with the pace we had, but that’s how things went. This also shows a bit of my bad luck this year. In Austin I was very strong, in Brazil I was very strong, but in Austin I was taken out by George, and in Brazil I had a grid penalty. I was looking forward to being able to show in the second half of the season how strong I am and my chances of being in the fight for the title from the start next year.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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