Ferrari F1-75 'overweight': Carlos Sainz gives up water reserve to be a few grams lighter

Ferrari F1-75 ‘overweight’: Carlos Sainz gives up water reserve to be a few grams lighter. Carlos did not have a water reserve to be a few grams lighter.

The French Grand Prix was very bitter for Scuderia Ferrari, with the Maranello team seeing a possible victory vanish due to the mistake made by Charles Leclerc while he was leading the race. If the Monegasque’s Sunday was one to be forgotten as soon as possible, it was a more positive day for his teammate, Carlos Sainz, even though the final result could have been even better.

In fact, the Spanish driver showed one of his best performances of the 2022 Formula 1 season, climbing from the 19th starting point to the fifth. Indeed, without a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and with a better race strategy on the part of the pit wall, the Ferrari #55 could have fought for a place on the podium in the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit.

One of the decisive elements of the race in Le Castellet was the heat, with the air temperature that sailed well above 30 ° C and that of the track that reached 60 ° C. However, the Spaniard from Ferrari was the one who accepted to challenge the torrid weather to try and gain even a small an advantage in terms of performance. Interviewed by Sky Sport F1 at the end of the race, Carlos Sainz confirmed that despite the sweltering heat, he decided not to put the water reserve in the car because the F1-75 is overweight. An extreme strategy that, according to Carlos Sainz, could have benefited him by a few tenths.

“I didn’t drink. We are overweight [with the car] and I decided not to have a bottle – revealed the Spaniard – I don’t sweat a lot and I prefer to be faster by a tenth. It was hot. Very hot. With the hards it was difficult to overtake but then with the medium I got to the podium for the moment”. Lewis Hamilton found himself in a situation similar to Carlos Sainz’s. However, the Englishman was unable to drink due to a technical problem on his Mercedes which prevented him from hydrating during the entire Grand Prix.