Carlos Sainz "The Ferrari F1-75 was not developed in my direction"[F1-Gate.com]

Carlos Sainz has rejected speculation that his results improved over the summer thanks to the development path taken by the Ferrari F1-75.

Charles Leclerc has consistently outpaced his team-mate in the first stage of the season, winning two of the first three races of 2022.

However, Carlos Sainz was then able to improve his performance and scored his first F1 win at Silverstone earlier in the summer.

Carlos Sainz’s improvements were in line with Ferrari’s development programme, but the Formula 1 British Grand Prix winner downplayed the correlation between the two events.

“I read somewhere that the car was developed to suit my style, but that’s completely wrong,” said Sainz after the latest F1 race in Abu Dhabi.

“The car feels exactly like it did at the start of the season, only it didn’t have the speed compared to Red Bull or Mercedes.”

“I was just learning to drive, I changed my driving style and modified the set-up a bit more to suit my tastes.”

“But the car wasn’t developed in my direction and I hope it doesn’t come out like that because it’s completely fake and it’s not the real story of the year.”

“We just fell behind Mercedes and Red Bull.”

Carlos Sainz’s performance improved significantly, but he finished 62 points behind Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ standings.

Carlos Sainz, assessing Charles Leclerc’s season, praised Leclerc for finishing second in the championship and said his teammate’s strong form was behind his efforts to change his driving style and improve his pace.

“I think he deserves second place this year,” explained Carlos Sainz.

“He’s been very strong all season with this generation of car. He drives very well and I’ve had to adapt and change my driving a bit to try and get close to him.”

“I would like to congratulate him. He had a great season with his riding and deserves to be ahead of the Czech (Sergio Perez).”