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Carlos Sainz feels he wasn't ready to fight at the front last season. The Ferrari driver did not have a great start to the 2022 F1 season as his teammate Charles Leclerc challenged for the title.
There were far too many races where Carlos Sainz could not keep up with his teammate and as a result made too many mistakes under pressure. As the season progressed, the situation got much better for the Spaniard as he adapted himself to the car and won his first race of the season.
Looking back, Carlos Sainz does feel he wasn't ready for the 2022 F1 season as he told Autosport:
“Being honest, probably with last year's car, I wasn't ready. If the championship would have been driven maybe with the 2021 car, I would have been ready. I proved to be for my first year with Ferrari. But with last year I found myself in that position. It happens."
He added:
"It's a long career of an F1 driver. There's always going to be cars that are made for you and you jump in and, without even pushing, you perform an exceptional lap time. There's other cars that you push, you try, and it feels like you lack that little bit that maybe I was lacking last year."
Talking about his learnings, Carlos Sainz admitted that there were a lot of things that he needed to understand when it comes to driving at the front of the grid. He said:
“It is true that I also learned a lot last year fighting at the front. It Is different to fighting at the midfield. The level of pushing is different, the level of management, how to win a race, how to make a pole position, are things that I hadn't been doing for nine years, eight years since my World Series days. It's probably an experience that will do me well for this year, I think."
Carlos Sainz pinpoints one key area where he struggled last season
The Spaniard felt that one key area where he struggled last season was consistency. He had always been a consistent driver but somehow found it hard to emulate the same in 2022. Sainz said:
“There's consistency last year that used to be one of my strongest assets as a driver. Whatever the reason was, I don't carry the car feeling or comfort. I abandoned a bit that consistency that made me so strong in my McLaren years and in my first year with Ferrari."
The 2023 F1 season is a new beginning for Carlos Sainz. It will be interesting to see how he exorcizes last year's demons this time around.
