Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz feels that there are some disadvantages to being “too calm” over the team radio communication with the race engineer and thinks this has been an issue that caused him some problems during the last few seasons.
The Spaniard has been praised for his approach to audio exchanges from car to pit to car with the Maranello team in the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season. In the Monaco Grand Prix, Carlos chose to reject Ferrari’s plan to move from the Wet to Intermediate tyres at that stage of the race and instead decided to save a pit-stop and go straight to slicks a few laps later.
A few races later, the Spanish driver was also rightly upset by his race engineer choosing to send him information during the team radio while he was battling the Red Bull of Sergio Perez at the Paul Ricard circuit, promptly responding to his team: “Not now, not now.”
When asked by the media about how he has changed his approach to staying composed during a Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz confirmed that he has understood the best way is to take a middle ground approach: “I think you need to find a balance, an in-between point,” he said – “I think there’s no harm in sometimes being a bit excited on the radio, and keep making your point. Making sure that you’re making a point, and people take it, and there’s other times that you need to give the team calmness and trust.” – the Ferrari driver continued.
Carlos Sainz also pointed out the fact that his calm approach which was seen during his previous Formula 1 seasons would sometimes not help him in the race, as more directness would have improved his messaging and resulted in better managing the race:
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“I think in Formula 1, if there’s something I’ve learned over the years, [it] is how to try and find that balance with when to be a bit more agitated or when to be a bit more calm, and it comes with experience. I remember in my first couple of years in Formula 1, I could be too calm on the radio and not make my point through. I could be too excited and make no sense about what I was talking about, and help the team in taking the right or wrong decision. I think it all depends on the moment and on its balance.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.

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