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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is focused on bouncing back from a harrowing 2022 F1 Australian GP. The 27-year-old's run of 17 consecutive race finishes in the points came to an end when he beached his F1-75 early in the race.
Having had a few days to process a difficult race weekend in Melbourne, the Spaniard feels he needs to understand the car in a manner akin to his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver leads the world drivers' championship with 71 points to his name.
During an interview carried by motorsport.com, Carlos Sainz spoke about his teammate's performances with the Ferrari F1-75 and what he can hope to do going forward. He said:
“Charles [Leclerc] is driving very well. As he says, he has understood this car very well and he’s doing great things with it. Of course it’s a great car, but I also believe he’s putting together some very strong races, and some very strong performances. So I was excited about quali(fying) and the race, just to see how much progress I had made.”
The Spaniard went on to add, saying:
“But unfortunately it didn’t happen. There was always going to be one race where things were not going to go my way, and there was always going to be a race where I was going to end up doing a mistake. So now the important thing is to learn from it. The important thing is just to come back to try and be more perfect, and try to look into every single detail more because, with the car that we have this year, I feel like every race that you don’t finish, you’re going to be losing a lot of points that you could have scored.”
Carlos Sainz's Australian GP struggle could see him play second fiddle to Charles Leclerc, feels Martin Brundle
Carlos Sainz's disappointing Australian GP outing could see him become the wingman in Charles Leclerc's title charge for 2022, according to former F1 driver Martin Brundle.
Writing in his column for Sky Sports F1, Brundle predicted a backup role for Sainz if he did not get back on track immediately. The Briton wrote:
“Carlos Sainz had the weekend from hell, missing out on a solid qualifying lap when his friend Fernando Alonso caused a red flag by crashing due to technical issues, and then with further engine starting dramas not delivering a representative lap. Out of true position in ninth on the grid, he needed a last-minute steering wheel change which led to an awful start, and he then proceeded to have a brutal midfield fight on Hard compound tires, eventually impatiently spinning off the road.”
Brundle further added, stating:
“He may well end up having to play a supporting role to [Charles] Leclerc from here, depending on how the competition shapes up and if he can win the next couple of races, which is not out of the question.”
Sainz will have his work cut out for him when F1 action returns to Italy for the Imola GP. Ferrari have already confirmed that they will not be bringing any new updates to the race on account of the sprint race format of the event.
