Carlos Sainz feels his engine failure at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP is 'a big, big loss on points' for Ferrari in the championship

Carlos Sainz believes his retirement from the 2022 F1 Austrian GP was a heavy loss of points for Ferrari in the championship battle against Red Bull.

The Spaniard looked destined for a podium finish and even a possible one-two finish with teammate Charles Leclerc in P1 when his Ferrari caught on fire in a horrific manner.

The F1-75 has already been plagued with multiple reliability issues that have been the team's Achilles Heel in the championship race against Red Bull. Leclerc had to retire while leading in Barcelona and Baku as well.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the dramatic implosion, Carlos Sainz claimed that there was no data to suggest a power failure of that magnitude was incoming. The 27-year-old said:

“There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen. Very sudden, and yeah, a bit lost for words because it’s obviously a big, big loss on points on a huge result for a team – I think it would have been an easy one-two today.”

When asked to share his assessment on the damage to his charred Ferrari, Sainz said:

“Well, fire, a lot of fire, a lot of damage for sure, which is not ideal and something that we will keep need to look in at. At least today, the pace was there, the degradation was very low on our car, we were fast. So yeah, I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible.”

The Spaniard went on to add:

“For sure it is more difficult to take because we were about to cut the points to the leaders of the championship, both Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull. We were about to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF’d. So it’s heart-breaking, but we need to keep pushing, turn the page and it’s still a long season ahead.”

Sainz could be forced to take some penalties with a host of new PU parts like Leclerc did in Montreal.

---

Carlos Sainz's shocking DNF raises questions about Fire Safety reaction at 2022 F1 Austrian GP

While fans were relieved to see Carlos Sainz emerge unharmed from the flames when his Ferrari Power Unit blew up, many questions have been raised about the reaction of the fire marshals at the Red Bull Ring.

The 27-year-old was gesturing for help to get out of his burning car for more than 10 seconds before finally jumping out on his own. What is even more shocking is that one fire marshal could be seen abandoning his extinguisher and running away from the burning car.

It is still unclear if the questions regarding this lackadaisical response to the crisis should be directed towards the FIA or the race promoters.

The 2022 F1 Austrian GP also saw multiple complaints and grievances concerning racism, sexism, homophobia and lewd behavior from certain attendees. F1 has issued a statement and claims to be looking into the matter in conjunction with the race promoters.