Yesterday in Singapore, Scuderia Ferrari broke Red Bull’s dominance by winning its first race of the season with Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had a race under complete control, starting from pole position; he only had to manage the tires, aided by Charles Leclerc, who protected him from potential attacks by George Russell in the early laps. Yesterday’s victory, after Silverstone 2022, is only the second for the Iberian driver, but after the marvelous performance he displayed at the wheel of his SF-23, he is already being compared to great names from the past.
Carlos Sainz, like the greats of the past
Carlos, besides being fast on the track, is a driver who uses his head a lot and has even in the past had the clarity to oppose the team’s advice by recommending a more effective strategy. In this aspect, he resembles his father, Carlos Sainz Sr. In the daily edition of the Gazzetta dello Sport, the Spaniard has been compared to three great Formula 1 drivers of the past: Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, and Alain Prost.
Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, as reported by the Italian newspaper, “were endowed with enormous strategic qualities and tactical acumen, characteristics that made them stand out from their rivals.” Even their nicknames emphasized these abilities. Prost was known as “The Computer,” while Lauda was known as “The Professor.” Moving on to Jody Scheckter, he was nicknamed “The Bear” due to his very reserved character, but he is credited with the feat of beating a wizard of the wheel like Gilles Villeneuve in 1979, clinching the world title for Ferrari, the last one before the Michael Schumacher era.
When comparing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, it cannot be denied that the Monegasque driver is of a higher caliber, especially in terms of raw speed. The Spaniard, with his victory in Singapore, has only achieved five pole positions since entering Formula 1, compared to Charles’ 18. However, it should also be noted that when the Spanish driver is having a good day, he has the ability to push the car to its limits without exceeding them, sometimes content with earning fewer points but at least finishing the race.
This aspect of Carlos Sainz only emerges when he feels completely confident in the car, whereas Charles Leclerc often struggles with oversteer and understeer in order to extract tenths from his driving, which sometimes leads to errors. Number 55, on the other hand, was perfect both at Monza during his defense against Max Verstappen and here in Singapore, where he defended against the comeback of George Russell, even taking the risk of keeping Lando Norris in the DRS zone to make life more difficult for the Mercedes driver.
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