The Spanish driver lost control of his car and went straight into the wall in Q2 of the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola, although by that time he had already set a good enough time to finish second behind Max Verstappen.
Despite this, Carlos Sainz was unable to participate in Q3 and, therefore, will start from tenth position on the grid in the sprint race this Saturday, April 23.
The driver from Madrid has been overshadowed by his teammate, Charles Leclerc, both in qualifying and in the race so far in 2022. In fact, he is already 38 points behind the Monegasque, who leads the drivers’ standings, after only three races.
However, Mattia Binotto , director of Ferrari, still thinks that there is nothing serious: “I don’t think there are problems. He just needs to adapt. I think he has made a couple of mistakes, which are important. But I think he is improving himself. It goes faster and faster.”
“And if I look at what happened on Friday, when he was driving, he was really fast. It’s a shame, because when he went to the wall I think it was not the right time to go to the limit. He knows that very well.”
“I think it’s a matter of learning how to handle the pressure. Maybe for the first time in his career he has a car that is fast enough to fight for the top positions.”
“And he just needs to get used to that. But he will get used to it very quickly, because I know how smart and capable he is of handling pressure,” Binotto added.
Before starting the weekend, Scuderia Ferrari announced the extension of Sainz ‘s contract after several months of negotiations that seemed endless, and Binotto believes that extending the duration of this line-up until the 2024 season will bring benefits to the team.
“Why two more years? I think firstly, we are very happy with him, the way he has integrated into the team and also the way he is performing,” he explained. “I think it’s obvious that he’s living up to expectations.”
“And after that, we started this experience with him, I think we are very, very happy. And it was the right time to look forward. I think extending our union is a way to give the team the necessary stability.”
“We know that our drivers are confirmed until at least 2024, so we can build on that. And I think as Ferrari our main goal is to try to create the foundation for the future. And keeping this line-up I think is the best we can do.” do”.
