The beginning of Carlos Sainz’s adventure with the Ferrari team began, as was logical, with difficulties, as he went from a McLaren that he had developed for several seasons to a single-seater that he did not know. However, the man from Madrid was able to get the most out of an SF21 that was positioned as ‘the best of the rest’ in the 2021 season, and with which, in addition to adding four meritorious podiums, he surpassed his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and only it was behind the almighty Red Bull and Mercedes.
With the change in technical regulations for 2022, in Maranello they gave their chest to be one of the favorites for the title. Proof of this was the double in the opening race in Bahrain, but Sainz could barely match the pace of the Monegasque with a totally different F1-75.
With the passage of the great prizes, the Spaniard was moving away from his partner, and sometimes, by forcing too much to close that gap, he made some mistakes that Sainz was little used to years ago, who spent up to 31 consecutive races finishing , in what is the fifth best streak in all history.
However, his ability to adapt has helped him take the measure of the single-seater with which he has climbed to the top of the podium for the first time in his career, and it is not uncommon to see that he is the fastest on asphalt. Ferrari’s sporting director, Laurent Mekies , acknowledged that his start to 2022 was complicated, but that he is already more than adapted: “Carlos [Sainz] had three pretty good weeks at Silverstone, Austria and France.”
“We’re very, very happy with that,” he said. “Of course that didn’t reflect much in the final results after his win, because we had other issues to deal with, but it’s clear he’s made a lot of progress since the start of the season.”
“About the start of the year, we made no secret that the new car didn’t suit Carlos very well,” Mekies said. “We had to work very closely with him, his engineers and the whole Maranello team to make sure we were giving him a car that he could be most comfortable with, and those things take time too.”
Throughout the thirteen races held until the summer holidays, the man from Madrid has been on the podium in six, almost half, despite the fact that he has suffered many mechanical problems with his power unit, such as in Baku or Austria, where he had that place assured or was very close to obtaining it.
However, he has managed 156 points , which puts him less than a victory away from Charles Leclerc: “Now it seems that we are slowly heading in the right direction, which is another great sign in terms of the team and the way in which the that we interacted with. I hope it can continue like this.”
At Ferrari, comments have grown about who should be the leader of the most successful team in history, whether the fastest driver or the one with the most consistency, but Mekies remains cautious about any statement: “I don’t think there is such a thing, It’s not what makes someone a leader or not, we know we have two very, very good drivers.”
“We are trying to improve our positions in the championship by giving them the best possible car, so we want them to be as fast as possible,” said Prancing Horse sporting director.
