Ferrari F1 boss reveals why Carlos Sainz was so successful in his first year with the team

Carlos Sainz had an exceptional debut year with Ferrari in 2021 and took the world by surprise, finishing the season ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto revealed that the Spaniard went out of his way to build relations with the engineers and the rest of the team to adapt to the new environment. His drive and ability to learn and familiarize himself with the team's culture allowed him to build comfort and deliver drives that are rarely seen by a driver sitting in a new car for the first time.

As reported by The Sports Rush, Binotto described the efforts taken by Sainz, saying:

“I think it has been obtained as well through quite a big effort through the wintertime. With [the] engineers, he was often [going] to Maranello, [to] sit down [with them], going through the car, the procedures. So it has been a lot of work back in Maranello, on the simulator, [to] try to prepare [for] the season. I think that we’ve seen the result of such an effort.”

The 27-year-old has a unique approach towards engineering and has played a significant role in every team he has been part of over the years. Binotto revealed that his performance is a reflection of his ability to learn very fast.

The Italian added:

“He has been very good because he is a good learner. He is studying, he’s trying to learn, he’s trying to understand.”

Carlos Sainz demonstrated impressive consistency throughout the 2021 season and ended the year with a strong P5 finish. While he is likely to go into the upcoming season with renewed confidence, the Ferrari driver will need to use the year to prove to the team that he's invaluable, given that his contract is set to expire by the end of 2022.

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Charles Leclerc reveals his weakness fixed with Carlos Sainz

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz made for one of the closest team-mate pairings on the grid in 2021. They finished the majority of their races with marginal points differences and also ended the season with only a 5.5 point gap.

As reported by GPFans, the Monegasque described his team-mate's strengths that made up for his weaknesses, saying:

“To pinpoint one thing, I think maybe one of the strong points of Carlos is race management and tire management, which was probably my weakness in 2019. I progressed a lot as a driver in 2020 and again [last year] and part of it is thanks to Carlos.”

While Leclerc had some moments of bad luck, Sainz was there to pick up the pieces to optimize points for the team. Overall, the Maranello-based team had a strong finish in 2021 and is set to come back stronger in 2022.