"I wouldn't be surprised if Red Bull is a bit quicker"- Carlos Sainz's ominous prediction for Ferrari ahead of 2022 F1 Italian GP

Carlos Sainz claims he would not be surprised if Red Bull were faster than Ferrari two weeks from now when they travel to Monza for the 2022 F1 Italian GP.

Engineers in the Red Bull garage appear to have unlocked another level to their car after dominating their way through the 2022 F1 Belgian GP weekend. Max Verstappen was the fastest man in qualifying and only needed a lap in each qualifying session to be at the top of the pack.

Come race day, he was able to overhaul Carlos Sainz, who started on pole after grid penalties were applied before half distance, before running away with the win. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez too had the Spaniard's number and was comfortably ahead of him in P2.

Sainz struggled with excessive tire degradation but admitted that Ferrari had no answer to Red Bull's straight-line pace advantage, a potential game-changer at low downforce tracks like the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Speaking at the post-race press conference, Carlos Sainz took stock of the race, confessing that Ferrari had their work cut out with the 2022 F1 Italian GP two weeks away. The 27-year-old said:

“We certainly need to take conclusions from this weekend and analyse why the lower downforce package was not as strong as the lower downforce package of Red Bull. I think it’s also an inherent characteristic of each car. I think clearly in high downforce tracks we’ve been performing better than at the lower ones and it’s a tendency that we’ve seen all year so I wouldn’t be surprised if Red Bull is a bit quicker in Monza, but we certainly want to be a lot closer and put on a fight, no, like it’s been in every track so far this year.”

Sainz is expecting the Scuderia to bounce back at this coming weekend's 2022 F1 Dutch GP. He went on to add, saying:

“Even Baku was where there was lower downforce, we’ve managed to outqualify them and be ahead in the race until we faced some issues so I think we can learn from this weekend. We have two weeks to analyse with the Zandvoort weekend in between where I’m hopeful that our package will be performing a lot better.”

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Carlos Sainz lauds Belgian GP promoters for changes to make Spa-Francorchamps safer

Carlos Sainz was full of praise for the promoters after a multitude of positive changes were made to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The track, under threat of being dropped from the F1 calendar next year, introduced gravel traps and also built a new grandstand to improve the experience for drivers and fans alike. It has since received an extension and will appear in 2023.

Carlos Sainz appreciated the changes in the post-race press conference after the 2022 F1 Belgian GP, where he said:

“I think it’s one of the best tracks in the calendar. I think they’ve also done a very good job with the changes they’ve done on track. I think putting gravel, getting rid of some tarmac run-offs, making Eau Rouge safer, I think it’s all changes that are in the right direction and I think we need to congratulate the circuit for that. And it makes it for a better show, and we look forward to come back in the future and hopefully it can stay in the calendar long.”

F1 could be looking to expand the calendar to a maximum capacity of 24 races next season with multiple venues wanting to be a part of the overall spectacle.