Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz confirmed that his recent DNF at the Baku City Circuit in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has added to his issue of not being able to build momentum in this first part of the 2022 Formula 1 championship.
Carlos Sainz started the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from fourth and kept his place, but sadly his race ended after just nine laps, when his Ferrari F1-75 car suffered a hydraulic problem, marking his third retirement in eight round of the 2022 F1 season. The Spanish driver has been facing other difficulties in his second year with Ferrari, including struggles in adapting his driving style to the F1-75 car in the same way that teammate Charles Leclerc has been able to, as well as some crashes.
However, Carlos says that reliability was not really an issue for him ahead of 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite the fact that such problems had previously hit his Maranello teammate:
“On my side this year, we haven’t had any reliability issues,” Carlos Sainz said, after the Baku race – “It’s been pure unluckiness and things not going my way, but I see that Charles had a problem in Barcelona and another one here. It’s a difficult day for the team, a difficult day for all the Ferrari family, but I’m sure we will look into it we and we will stay united and keep pushing. It’s still a long season ahead.” – he added.
The big issue for the Spaniard is that the premature DNF in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix means he once again is not able to find some of the consistency he was able to show last year, in his first season with the Italian side. And Carlos does not hide the fact that this situation has been a cause of frustration for him.
“On my side, it’s been extremely difficult to get any kind of momentum. Every time I do a good race, the next race there’s something happening. 2022 has been extremely frustrating on that side. But I’m still hoping that one day all this will finish and we start having a smoother time.” – he continued.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Despite the difficult moment he and Scuderia Ferrari are goining through after a positive start to the current F1 campaign, Carlos Sainz is still confident they can turn things around:
“It’s part of the experience and part of the process. I think we’ve been quite solid as a team this year. There’s been some niggles here and there, but I think the team is doing a very good job. Yes, we’ve run into our first double DNF or double reliability issue, but I think the team is doing a great job. We just need to make sure we stay calm, we stay united and we react accordingly. We’re learning from these kind of mistakes. On the personal side, [it’s] very frustrating to not be able to get any kind of momentum. Again, a retirement on Lap 9 without doing any learning with the car is extremely frustrating, but it’s how it goes.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
Leave a Reply