Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has described his first half of the 2022 Formula 1 championship as a “nightmare”, but at the same time he admitted to being happy with the way in which he was able to recover and improve in the second part of the season.
The Maranello team’s F1-75 challenger proved to be the fastest car in pre-season testing and in the first races of the 2022 F1 campaign, as rivals Red Bull were dealing with early reliability problems and weight issues, while Mercedes were far off the pace and suffering from porpoising, without the pace to challenge the Italian side.
Carlos Sainz started the season with a second place finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix, completing a perfect weekend for Scuderia Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc won the season-opener. However, the Spaniard was aware even at that time that he could not match his Maranello teammate, which was clear in the next few races, as the Monegasque driver opened up a huge points lead at the top of the standings, thanks also to another win at the Albert Park Circuit.
The Spaniard then lost more ground due to two retirements suffered in Australia and in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the former being his own fault following a move that beached the F1-75 car in the gravel at the start of the race. Despite this poor form in the start of the season, Carlos Sainz focused on the positive aspects when asked about his 2022 Formula 1 campaign, which was also marked by his first pole position and race win, both in the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit.
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In the second part of the championship following the August break, the Ferrari driver got to grips with his F1-75 car and was able to match his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc, taking another pole position dry conditions at the Circuit of the Americas. Yet Carlos ended the season more than 60 points behind Charles Leclerc, due to the six retirements, including further back-to-back ones in Japan and the United States Grand Prix, making the Spaniard the driver that completed the least number of laps in 2022.
At the same time, Carlos Sainz was pleased with how he recovered his form, especially taking into consideration the fact that the F1-75 car was far less competitive than in the first races, with the Red Bull RB18 clearly superior and even the Mercedes W13 coming close to Ferrari’s pace:
“It’s clear that we had a tough start to the season especially on my side, as we didn’t maximise when the car was at its strongest,” Carlos Sainz said in one of his final interviews of 2022, after ending the championship with a career-best fifth place in the Drivers’ standings.
“In the second half of the season, I’ve been a lot stronger, but as a team we know we need to improve race execution next year. We also need to improve on development as we got out-developed by Red Bull and Mercedes [throughout the season]. I’m keen to start the new season as this one was a bit of a nightmare for me, especially in the first half, but then I managed to recover the pace and my feeling with the car so I was a lot stronger and am looking forward to starting next season with better pace.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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