Sainz, bitter podium in Spa: "When there is no rhythm, there is no rhythm"

Despite starting first and maintaining that position in the first laps, Carlos Sainz could do nothing against the devilish pace of the Red Bulls , and finished behind Pérez and Verstappen , having to settle for being third in the Belgian GP, his seventh podium of 2022.

On softs, he had no problem getting to the first corner in the lead, and furthermore, Fernando Alonso’s second position spared him a headache on the first long straight at Spa-Francorchamps, allowing him to escape.

As the race began to stabilize after the initial tension, he found himself in front, ahead of the two Red Bulls, and after making his stop to mount mediums, he was passed by Max Verstappen on lap 18 and by Sergio Pérez on lap 21, without being able to do anything.

“I had a good start and a good restart after the Safety Car, but I had no pace. We had a lot of overheated tires and we were spinning a lot, and yes for some reason our car wasn’t quite there this weekend, but in the end we finished on the podium and we will accept it”, he described as soon as he got out of the car, in Parc Fermé.

To make matters worse, after being overtaken by the Red Bulls, Sainz and Ferrari began to see how George Russell began to recover distance, although after his second lap to ride hard he managed to resist and the Briton gradually reduced the threat of stealing the podium .

Asked if he was confident he could keep the Mercedes behind, he replied: “No. My first couple of laps were strong, but then we immediately started getting a lot of degradation. And then I realized we were downgrading more than we should have. Red Bull, Max and Checo were in their own league today and unfortunately we couldn’t put up more of a fight and had to survive, but we’ll have to learn why we weren’t competitive at this track.”

When there were still more than 15 laps to go, the threat of seeing third place disappear was there. “Try to give your best, Carlos! The last lap was good,” they told him on the radio. “Guys, I’m already squeezing a lot,” he replied. The #55 then asked what would happen if he made a third stop, and was told he would be fourth behind Russell.

The worst thing for Ferrari is that this weekend there are no mistakes that have been the cause of their defeat, but purely performance.

“I did not expect it to be such a long-suffering race. I thought we were going to have a chance to defend ourselves, but the truth is that the Red Bulls in this race have been in another league. On Saturday they already put six or seven tenths on us and this Sunday, Between the fact that they had less degradation, they were faster on the straight and they were better in the second sector, they have put a lot into us per lap,” Sainz said before the DAZN F1 microphones.

“We did the perfect execution of the start, the Safety Car, the pit stops, the strategy… we made the right decisions but when there is no pace, there is no pace. There was a lot of overheating of the tires, as soon as I was trying to push to go to the Red Bull’s pace, the next lap I was slower because of overheating”.

“We will have to analyze why, and it is that it tastes a bit bad after starting from pole and having the advantage that I had after the first two laps.”

Sainz lamented once again the overheating of the tires in the Ferrari, and hopes that the team will get to the bottom of the matter: “We were a bit locked up, we couldn’t shoot and we couldn’t defend ourselves either, so it’s a shame”.

“But hey, I’ll take the podium, with a solid weekend that I think we’ve had a good weekend in general, and as a team we’ll try to draw conclusions from this weekend because honestly I don’t think this is the norm. the rest of the year”.

Without rest, F1 will head to Holland for the Dutch GP, where Sainz hopes for better performance from his car: “Yes, Zandvoort should be a better track for us. And then Monza should be an advantage for Red Bull, but we will try to win in Zandvoort.”

The photos of Carlos Sainz at the Belgian GP 2022 F1

Podium: winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Podium: second place Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Podium: second place Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Podium: second place Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing, winner Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Podium: third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, in the pits

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75

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Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Carlos SainzFerrari F1-75

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos SainzFerrari F1-75

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos SainzFerrari F1-75

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, in the pits

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

The Safety Car leads Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The Safety Car leads Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, the rest at the restart

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, on the grill

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, George Russell, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start