With one of the fastest single-seaters on the grid and after scoring two podiums in the first two races of the season, Carlos Sainz wanted to get the first victory of his F1 career at the Australian GP, and yet he ended up leaving.
After 24 races crossing the checkered flag consecutively since his debut with the Maranello team, the Spanish driver saw how on the third lap of the race he was forced to retire after a bad start that took him from ninth to 14th position, and a spin that left him stuck in the gravel with no chance of getting back on track.
With Charles Leclerc leading the championship after a victory and a second place in the previous races, Sainz was aware of the importance of this Australian GP, but nevertheless he did not manage to close the gap, quite the opposite, the Monegasque He took another victory and 26 points, while the man from Madrid could not even add.
As soon as he got out of his car and with the test still underway, Carlos Sainz was very frustrated analyzing his short race and his complicated weekend at Albert Park.
“Yes, we’ve had similar problems with the switches on the car again, like yesterday. We had to change the steering wheel just before the start, which meant it was not set up correctly for the start.
“So unfortunately we got stuck [at the start]. Then I spun on the hard tyre, and then, in the rush of wanting to get back on track, I made a mistake,” he added.
“I need to be hard on myself because it’s a driver error. It’s been a weekend to forget, everything went very wrong. Obviously we’re still getting to know these tires and clearly the harder compound this weekend was very difficult to manage. in the first few laps, just when I had to push more.
“It’s an easy conclusion that I shouldn’t have pushed so hard, that I should have been patient. But at the same time, we weren’t perfect as a team either. Pressure”.
Despite everything, Sainz assured that there is still nothing lost and that seeing Leclerc ‘s pace still gives him confidence to come back in the next events on the Formula 1 calendar.
“We will try to learn and come back stronger. It is clear that the car is fast, this weekend I was a little more comfortable and we have to take advantage of that. There are still 20 races ahead, there is a world left, but we have to try to be more perfect “, concluded the Spanish pilot.
After leaving Australia with his first zero of the season, Carlos Sainz loses a position with George Russell in the drivers’ championship and will arrive at the next Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola third with 33 points, already a considerable distance from his teammate team leader and world championship leader, a Leclerc who has already managed to score 71 points.
