Carlos Sainz, Ferrari Formula 1 driver, has admitted to not fighting for the championship in 2022. He conceded that he “abandoned” the consistency required to ace the championship at Ferrari.
The Spaniard moved from McLaren to Ferrari in 2021. He move when the latter was struggling with excessive aero drag. The team remained unable to introduce new development tweaks because of regulatory limitations. The regulations only permitted two development tokens in a year.
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Nonetheless, he beat his team-mate Charles Leclerc to fifth place, two places ahead, in 2021. He also managed four podiums compared to his team mate.
However, Leclerc turned the table in 2022 thanks to better ground effects. In-contrast, Sainz struggled in the early half of the season with agile F1-75’s rear axle.
Leclerc remained in the spotlight as he competed with Max Verstappen for the championship. He managed to win three races and remained second in drivers’ standings. However, Sainz managed to win only once and finished fifth at the end of the championship.
Sainz confessed
The Spaniard reflected on last year and conceded he was not ready to fight for title.
He opened up at the launch of the SF-23. He said: “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.
“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.”
Sainz is looking forward to fight this year while making himself ready for front line fighting.
He continued: “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.”
