Five times on the podium in six finishes, and yet Carlos Sainz’s perception is that 2022 is one of his worse seasons
Carlos Sainz has not yet given up hope of winning the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship title. After nine of 22 race weekends, he is fifth in the drivers’ standings, 73 points behind overall leader Max Verstappen and 24 points behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. Nevertheless, “I hope to still be in this fight,” says the Spaniard ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
But he is not too driven by the thought of the World Championship. “Especially,” says Sainz, “because I had two no-shows in a row right at the start of the season, and then another one in Baku. That honestly set me way back.”
“If I focus on winning races now, then I’ll get back in there all by myself. So I think race by race. Always on the podium, win if possible, then we’ll see how far that carries me. But I don’t let the thought of the World Championship drive me crazy. ”
Sainz longs for consistency of past years
He wants to become “the consistent Carlos” again, “which I was in Formula 1 in the past years”, Sainz emphasises. The first big goal is the first victory: “I want that more than anyone else in the paddock! And I know that many others want it for me too. But I have to stay patient. It will come.”
Recently, his form curve has been pointing upwards. When he hasn’t retired in 2022, he’s always been at least fourth. Or, to put it another way, in six finishes he has been on the podium five times.
He has had “a couple of good weekends”, namely “Canada, Baku, Monaco. Silverstone will be more of a challenge because Silverstone is a bit more like Barcelona and that’s the track where I’ve struggled the most so far. ”
Silverstone an important reference
But, “It’s a good reference for me to see how much I’ve developed and improved with this car. Since Monaco it’s already like I feel I’m closer and I feel a lot more comfortable in this car. ”
Last time out in Canada, he was chasing Verstappen in the finish. It wasn’t quite enough in the end. But it would be too easy to blame that on the lack of top speed because he had a different rear wing to Leclerc: “I don’t think so,” Sainz waves it off. “The speed was there the whole weekend. The choice of rear wing was already right.”
The new wing is “not a gamechanger” in terms of the Ferrari’s top speed and efficiency, Sainz fears, explaining, “Red Bull looks at our qualifying speed and thinks about how they can get there. And we look at their top speed and see how we can get there. It’s about finding the right balance. “
