Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz will start Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix from the back row of the grid at Istanbul Park, but the Maranello team’s driver confirms that he is happy about the prospect of potentially making a strong recovery race through the field with not much to lose given the starting position.
Scuderia Ferrari introduced in Russia its long-awaited new-spec power unit that features hybrid system elements which will play an important role in developing the power unit version for next season.
Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was the first one to use of the upgraded unit, and the Italian side will now bring the new power unit at Istanbul Park on the SF21 of Carlos Sainz, as the Spanish driver will have to take a grid penalty just like Charles two weeks ago.
“It actually doesn’t feel that bad. If you’re going into the weekend with a new PU that is hopefully bringing a bit of performance and a bit of development to the team, I cannot be disappointed with that. Obviously you pay the price of having to start last, but I have a pretty good record of starting last and coming through the field in these last few years. So I’m kind of excited, because your focus is mainly on preparing the race, making sure that the car is well set up for the different compounds and the different conditions that we have in the race, with high fuel, etcetera… So it’s actually okay also to have a different weekend now and then, and a different approach, and I find it actually exciting [to have] nothing to lose. You go into a weekend [and] you can risk it even more.” – Carlos said.
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Looking back on his good performance at Sochi Autodrom two weeks ago, as Carlos Sainz finished the Russian Grand Prix by scoring a podium, the Spanish driver explains the result was an important one to achieve and a confirmation of a step forward for the Scuderia charger.
“This second half of the season, it was important to get a good result. The first three races [of the second half] were good, but they were nothing special, and I was expecting to do a bit of a step this second half. And this podium kind of confirms that step that has been done on car understanding and performance throughout the season as I get more used to this new environment. It was a good weekend: the quali, nailing a lap when it counted, nailing the start and leading the race and then nailing the strategy and the tyre management through the race to come home third. It was overall a well-executed weekend that for sure gives me good vibes going into the last third of the season.” – he concluded.
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