Sainz signed for the Maranello team in 2021 and in his first year was able to outperform teammate Charles Leclerc. Last season was disappointing for him, he made a lot of mistakes, and earlier he already revealed the reasons for his poor performance in an interview.
“To be honest, with last year’s car, maybe I wasn’t ready,” Sainz said when asked about the championship challenge. “If we had run the championship with the 2021 car, I would have been ready. I proved it in my first year at Ferrari. But I was in such a situation last year. It happens.”
“The career of an F1 driver is long. There will always be cars that have been built for you, you can sit in them, and without pushing them, you can achieve outstanding lap times. Then there are cars that, even if you push them in vain, you feel like they’re missing a bit – and I missed them last year.”
Sainz added, he also had to get used to fighting at the front of the field again – as at that time in the lower series.
“It’s also true that I learned a lot from fighting at the front last year. It’s different than fighting in midfield. They push at a different level, you need different management to win a race or get a pole position. These are things I haven’t been a part of for 8 or 9 years.”
“So that’s an experience that will probably benefit me this year.”
The Spanish driver also talked about Ferrari’s F1-75 racing car, which behaved rather nervously he had to change his driving style.
“I lacked consistency, which was one of my strengths as a competitor. Whatever the reason, I didn’t like the car, I didn’t feel comfortable in it. That’s why I let go a little of this ‘consistency’, which made me so strong during the McLaren years and my first season at Ferrari.”
