The Spanish driver faced the second sprint race of the 2022 season with the intention of once again cutting points on his rivals, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez. After qualifying in third position in Friday’s session, he had it in his hand to go all out at the start, even more so seeing that the Mexican from Red Bull was in the middle of the peloton after the FIA sanctioned him by erasing his times for exceeding the limits of the track in Q2.
Thus, Carlos Sainz released the clutch with the necessary delicacy to overtake the Dutchman and his partner, but he could only beat Leclerc in the first corner, although the Monegasque returned it to him only a few meters later, with which he returned to third place. from which it started.
In the initial moments, the Spaniard attacked the other Ferrari, but after some nice parallels in the DRS zones, he chose to lift his foot to avoid touches and take care of his medium tires to reach the end of the test without suffering excessively.
This is how the winner of the last race at the British Grand Prix recounted how the start of the sprint test in Austria was: “There have been some battles at the beginning, first at the start and then with Charles [Leclerc], I don’t know on what lap, on lap four or lap five, but it’s been fun.
“It’s a shame not to have been able to catch him at the end, because he went very well after turn 3 and it wasn’t enough to catch him,” Sainz explained at the official press conference after getting out of the car.
At the moment in which he could have reached the lead, the Madrid native tried to make a different line to Max Verstappen , and was involved in a fight with his teammate for that second position shortly after, where he had to loosen up to manage the rest of the the laps.
“I’ve lost some grip on the front and rear tires and had to get the battery back to find my rhythm, but it’s always fun here,” said Sainz. “Today there was little to gain or lose in that battle, we were talking about a point or a less, there aren’t many in the sprint, and Max [Verstappen] seemed to be in control in the lead, so we haven’t lost much.
When asked about the possible strategy for Sunday’s main race, the Ferrari man did not want to give any clues: “Both [he and Leclerc] have started with the medium, there is the answer, I am not going to reveal what we think or not before the race.”
However, he hopes to make things difficult for his rivals in the main event: “The three of us are very similar, going in first position always gives you an advantage because you are in clean air, but tomorrow we will have to find a way to get him out of that comfort zone, and between the two of them do different things to go for it”.
