Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has confirmed that he would rather enjoy the fast power unit of the Maranello team’s F1-75 car, even with its occasional reliability issue, then rely on a engine that has no issues, but is much slower and would not allow him to fight at the top.
Carlos Sainz has suffered four retirements due to power unit issues in this first part of the 2022 Formula One season, which means that the Spanish driver and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu are the ones who have failed to reach the flag most frequently so far. Carlos Sainz most recent problem was seen last Sunday at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, with his F1-75 car giving up in spectacular, fiery fashion, as the Spaniard was just about to overtake Max Verstappen and make it a Ferrari one-two in Austria.
In a recent interview from a few weeks ago, after the race at the Baku City Circuit, where both Ferrari drivers had to retire due to mechanical issues, Carlos Sainz confirmed that the disappointment of these reliability issues hasn’t been as severe this championship:
“As a team, we are still motivated, we are united. We are going through a bump in the road, which I think after the step that we’ve done in the engine this year, I would much rather take this step and take a bump in the road than have an unpowerful (sic) engine that is reliable. I think, as a team, we’ve done a great job with this year’s engine and we’re just going through some issues that are going to be solved, I’m sure.” – the Spanish driver said at that time.
But not surprisingly, Carlos Sainz found the situation more difficult to handle after he suffered another retirement last weekend at the Red Bull Ring:
“It’s difficult to find the right words today, as it was clear that a one-two was pretty straightforward. I had strong pace today, especially on the hard tyre. Degradation was very high, but we managed it well. On the last stint the car felt really good on track until we obviously had the issue and we had to retire. Today’s result is a hard one to take as it cost the team and myself an important number of points for both championships.” – he added.
Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto echoed Carlos Sainz’s statements from Austria, but is confident the Italian side will get to the bottom of their reliability problems:
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“Of course, we are very disappointed for [Sainz], but I’m sure he will fight back in the upcoming races. We are still suffering with reliability problems, we know what they are and we must make every effort to solve them as soon as possible. I am sure we can do it…” – the Ferrari Team Principal said.
Despite the fact that Carlos Sainz was not able to score any point in the Spielberg race, the Maranello team still collected the most points with 38 as compared to Mercedes’ 33 and title rival Red Bull’s 31. Ferrari will be hoping to further reduce the gap in the next round of the 2022 Formula One season, the French Grand Prix.
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