Being the only one of the four Ferrari and Red Bull drivers who has not yet achieved a pole or a victory so far in the 2022 season, Carlos Sainz arrived at his home race eager to turn the situation around and be able to celebrate their first success in front of their fans.
However, from the first practice session, the driver from Madrid was unable to feel comfortable behind the wheel of his car despite the great package of updates that the Scuderia had prepared for the Spanish Grand Prix.
In qualifying, one of the most important of the year due to the characteristics of the track, Carlos Sainz got off to a good start, in fact, he finished ahead of Charles Leclerc in Q2, although 0.234 seconds behind Max Verstappen.
Already in the last round, the Spaniard from Ferrari could not do anything against the pace of his teammate and the Dutch driver. Although it is true that a spin prevented Leclerc from completing his first lap in Q3, in his second and last attempt he swept a 1:18.750 to take pole position again, ahead of Verstappen and Sainz , 0.416 seconds behind.
As soon as he got out of his car, the man from Madrid acknowledged that he is still not comfortable with the F1-75, but assured that starting from the third starting position in the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix is good news.
“It’s been a tough weekend so far. The conditions haven’t been the easiest with the heat and the wind. But today we managed to put in a decent lap that allows us to fight tomorrow.”
“I think anything is possible on Sunday. We’re going to do everything we can to overtake at the start, but it wasn’t the ideal qualifying because I couldn’t do a good lap on the used tire [in Q2]. We’re probably missing a rubber. new for tomorrow at the start, but I think anything can happen and we will do everything possible”, added the Madrid native.
Like his teammate said, Sainz believes that if Ferrari manages to solve one of its biggest problems at the start of the course, the degradation of the compounds, it will be able to fight for first position in its home race.
“I think the key will be the start, tire management, see if we can have a good first few meters and go all out from there. But it’s a decent position to start with,” concluded the Spanish Scuderia driver.
