Carlos Sainz finished the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sharing a box with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. That image of the Madrilenian on the podium may be a harbinger of what lies ahead in 2022 after a spectacular year at Ferrari where he has overcome the bad decisions of the team from the box , the leadership of a Charles Leclerc whom he has surpassed in the general and an impressive background with four podiums in the overall season.
This cocktail of arguments makes many in Italy see Carlos Sainz as leader. He has earned it after finishing fifth in the World Championship behind the Red Bulls and the Mercedes, contributing greatly to Ferrari finishing third in the Constructors’ World Cup. The Madrilenian recorded his best position of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished second. It also had three third places in Hungary, Russia and Abu Dhabi. With his consistency, he has been the best in the rest of the world outside of supercars.
The numbers do not deceive and show us a Carlos Sainz who has been stronger by system than his partner. Ferrari would do well to renew a driver who ends his contract next year and who will have good offers after shining ahead of a Leclerc who may see next year how his partner does not have to give him the position by system.
The Madrilenian has been a standard bearer for the regularity, not reaping any abandonment throughout the season and scoring points in all races except two. In fact, his worst result of the season was eleventh places at the start of the season and both were conditioned by a poor strategic stop from Ferrari.
If 2022 is an exciting year for Fernando Alonso and his ambitious plan with Alpine, that season should not be too short for a Carlos Sainz who knows that Ferrari has spent all of 2021 preparing that car for the change of rules. With the belief that he will no longer have to work for Leclerc, Sainz can only think big with a car that has historically always been at the forefront when big changes have occurred. There are reasons to dream.
