Carlos Sainz has shared the intricacies of driving this year’s Formula 1 cars, explaining how the new regulations have left him fighting his “natural instinct” as a driver.
The Spaniard has suffered a tricky start to the season, amid his Williams team’s struggles with its chassis’ weight, leaving him with just two points from three Grands Prix.
It has left the Grove-based squad on the back foot, undoing its momentum from last season, in which it finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, aided by Sainz’s two podiums.
This year’s new ruleset has been hard to decipher for all the teams, as well as the drivers, and with it has come some overwhelming unpopularity.
Sainz has been one of the most vocal proponents for change, particularly conveying a sense of anger after identifying the dangers they carry after Oliver Bearman’s frightening crash at Suzuka two weeks ago.
Nevertheless, the 31-year-old has been required to put his skills to the test with the new cars, and issued a positive update on how he is getting used to the changes.
“Honestly, my group of engineers and myself, we’ve done a very good job over the winter to understand it, and I feel like we’re doing a very good job on understanding it and driving it,” he told media, including Motorsport Week, in Japan.
“And in that sense, I think I’m 90, 95 per cent close to understanding everything.
“There’s definitely surprises that come now and then, but I feel like I’ve been not very surprised by it, given how new it is. It’s more how disciplined you want to be with your driving.
“So it’s how your natural instinct, or animal instinct, kicks in in a Q2 lap or a Q3 lap, when you go and push that out, how much you’re gonna upset the system, and the system is gonna backfire in you.
“And yeah, I think we all understanding this, it just goes against our natural instinct.”
Carlos Sainz reveals ‘discipline’ is the key to unlock progress in new F1 cars
Sainz explained further that this is why some drivers will look particularly disappointed if they achieve a bad result on Saturday.
“I think that’s where you will see us, always a bit gutted after qualifying, because you always feel like you could have done better, you always feel like you could have done more, you always feel like you can be more efficient when you’re driving,” he continued.
“But the reality is that I think, from my side, I understand it’s just how disciplined I want to be with it.”
Sainz will no doubt be wanting to ensure a return to more instinctive driving soon, given his public rebukes.
And once the full details of the FIA’s investigation into potential tweaks by the time of the next race in Miami, will Sainz, and many of the other discontented men on the grid, be given a semblance of resolution?
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton brands F1 success ‘not all it’s cracked up to be’ in surprise career assessment
Discussion about this post