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Carlos Sainz believes Ferrari are well and truly back to contending for the world championships after the Spaniard secured P2 in the 2022 F1 Bahrain GP.
The Spaniard looked to be off the pace when compared to his teammate and eventual race winner, Charles Leclerc. Sainz, however, seized an opportune moment to pass defending world champion Max Verstappen towards the end after the latter suffered from reliability issues.
Speaking to former British F1 driver-turned-analyst Martin Brundle, the Spaniard reflected on his race by saying:
“First of all, congrats to Charles [Leclerc] and congrats to Ferrari. Ferrari is back and properly back with a one-to and [this is] where the team should be, should have been over the last three years. But the hard work is paying off and we are there.”
The 27-year-old then delved into his own struggles in what he called a 'tricky' weekend of racing in Bahrain. Carlos Sainz added further, saying:
“For me, it’s been a very tricky weekend, I’m not going to lie. I didn’t have the pace today but I managed to hold it together and bring the one-two for the team. I have some homework to do over these next few days and I’m sure I will come back stronger.”
"He was unfortunate" - Carlos Sainz sympathizes with Max Verstappen after late DNF in 2022 F1 Bahrain GP
Amidst the revelry of Ferrari's first one-two in F1 since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz sympathized with reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman was on course to finish in P2 behind race winner Charles Leclerc when a late reliability issue forced him into the pits before subsequently retiring. Sainz inherited his former Toro Rosso teammate's grid position as a result.
In the aforementioned interview with Martin Brundle, the Ferrari driver confessed that he felt Verstappen deserved more from the race. Carlos Sainz said:
“At the restart, I had a good, strong chance. Because I had a very good restart behind Charles and Max [Verstappen]. He defended well, to be fair. And then suddenly I started seeing some flashing red lights on the back of his car and I said ‘Okay, this is my chance’ and I went for it. He was unfortunate. I think today he was driving well enough to get P2. But yea. I had a good run on him and then he had to retire. It is what it is and it is good for Ferrari.”
In addition to Verstappen, Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly were also unable to finish on account of reliability problems.
