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Carlos Sainz is confident of making a comeback in the championship despite another DNF at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP.
The Spanish driver was in line for a P2 finish in Austria before the power unit gave out. When questioned if he felt it was too late for him to make a mark in the championship fight, Sainz disagreed and talked about how he tended to peak in the second half of the season and could script a fightback at that point.
“I say let’s see at the end of the year. I think it’s still early. It was early when I finished P2 [at the season opener] in Bahrain and everyone said it’s going to be an easy walk in the park for Ferrari. I said it when I was in my low moment in Barcelona after the spin in the race, and I say it now: it’s too early still to tell and to say.”
“I understand people that say [I’m not the championship-challenging Ferrari driver], because it hasn’t been my easiest start of the season. But if you look closely to my last four or five seasons in F1, I’ve always peaked in the second half and I’ve always done a very strong second half, so let’s wait and see.”
We have been picking up momentum: Carlos Sainz
Despite his disappointing outing at Spielberg, Carlos Sainz tried to focus on the positives. He pointed out that he had been gaining momentum lately, that he had scored multiple P2 finishes, and had even won the 2022 F1 British GP.
The Spaniard also felt that he had become further comfortable with the car recently and extracted more out of it as well. He said:
“I think we’ve been doing a better job these last few weekends. I think since Monaco... Monaco was already a bit of a turning point, fighting there for pole position. Also in Baku, we fought pole. In Canada, we fought for the win.”
“I’ve been picking up a bit of momentum. I wouldn’t say I’m 100 per cent there yet. I think there’s things still to improve, like we saw in the race in Silverstone. Definitely I feel a lot more in touch and like it could come anytime again soon.”
The Spaniard is currently 75 points behind Max Verstappen and 37 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in the drivers' championship.
