Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz was asked whether the Maranello team should have been “more brave or cautious” with strategy this season, after a series of poor decisions that has cost them important points in many races during the current Formula 1 campaign.
Last weekend, in the final stages of the Belgium Grand Prix, Ferrari decided to make a risky call, by pitting teammate Charles Leclerc with two laps until the end of the race, with the goal of attempting to set the fastest lap and score an extra point. The plan eventually cost the Monegasque driver two points due to a pit lane speeding penalty.
A few weeks ago, in the French Grand Prix, the Maranello team seemed to give up a possible podium for Carlos Sainz by deciding to make a late pit stop in the race, that ended up with him losing time and finishing P5.
“It’s very difficult to generalise where we should have been more brave or more cautious,” Carlos Sainz replied, when asked about Ferrari’s strategy decisions in 2022 – “I think you will need to pick [them] one-by-one and analyse them independently, and I’m pretty sure one-by-one, every result or conclusion will be different. For me it’s all about continuous improvement and finding ways to make the right calls at the right time.” – he added.
Carlos Sainz confirmed that he usually prefers to have an open discussion regarding the evolving strategy during the race, given the fact that grip from the tyres change and more data from the team is available:
“I’ve always personally been a driver that really likes opening the radio and being clear about what I feel in the car. I want them [the team] to keep feeding me about what they see in the race and is the Hard, Medium, or Soft [tyre] behaving as expected, worse, or better. Keep telling me because I’m gonna keep feeding you back what I feel on track to see we can together arrive at the same conclusion.” – the Spaniard continued.
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Carlos Sainz moved to Ferrari from McLaren at the start of the previous championship and confirmed that he has found it “a bit tougher” compared to the other teams he has raced with in the midfield to take the criticism for strategy mistakes: “I find that a bit tougher in Ferrari, I feel like when I was in McLaren, Toro Rosso, or Renault, when there was a big mistake on strategy, no one would come and point it out, criticize you and put you down to Earth like as much as they do in Ferrari.” – the Spanish driver pointed out during his interview on Thursday ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
After scoring his first Formula 1 race win a few weeks ago in the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit, Carlos Sainz admitted that he is adapting to this aspect of being part of such a popular team within Formula 1: “In Ferrari, everything seems bigger. The victory is bigger. The mistake is bigger and it’s just like that. It’s something I’m adapting myself to and I need to learn how to react better in [those] situations.” – the Spaniard concluded.
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