Sainz relieved to be ‘quicker’ and ‘more consistent’ in 2023

Carlos Sainz admits he was relieved to overcome a “tough” 2022 season by achieving his pre-season aim of rediscovering both his speed and consistency with the current generation of Formula 1 cars.

The Spaniard pipped Charles Leclerc in his debut year at Ferrari in 2021 but struggled during the early exchanges of last season upon F1’s return to ground effect machinery.

While Leclerc spearheaded Ferrari’s title charge with victory in two of the first three races, Sainz lacked the pace of his team-mate and got caught up in various incidents.

Although he recovered to secure his maiden F1 pole position and victory at the British Grand Prix, Sainz ultimately ended the 2022 campaign a huge 62 points adrift of Leclerc.

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But despite the Italian marque being stymied by an inconsistent SF-23 car this season, Sainz capitalised on Ferrari’s mid-season progress to score the only non-Red Bull win.

Along with that Singapore triumph, Sainz converted pole into a podium at Monza, and he was satisfied with the improvement he made in the second year under this ruleset.

Reflecting on his personal season, which concluded on a sour note with him dropping from fourth to seventh in the standings, Sainz said ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: “I was coming from a tough 2022. My goal for ‘23 was to get back my speed.

“I feel in ’22 I wasn’t as quick as I was in ’21 or with the older generation of cars. And my target for ’23 with was with these newer generation to understand them better and to be quicker, just have more speed both in qualifying and the race.

“And I think I’ve definitely achieved those two things, I definitely feel a lot more quick and a lot more on top of the car in qualifying and race trim.”

“And I’ve also been more consistent this year, so I’ve also had higher peaks. I have higher lows in a way, the lows of ’23 haven’t been as low as ’22, so overall for sure has been a better season.

“But unfortunately not exactly what I was looking for, so still more work to do for next year.”

While Ferrari’s improved understanding of its troubled charger enabled it to scoop three poles in the final five rounds, the Maranello squad was unable to add to its win count.

With Ferrari set to overhaul its car concept for next season, Sainz believes the side has everything needed to make the strides to battle the reigning champions in 2024.

Asked if it was realistic to expect Ferrari to mount a challenge next season, Sainz replied: “I think it has to be our realistic aim. Will we manage to do it? Only time will tell.

“But I want the team to be thinking that it’s possible because I believe it is.

“The steps McLaren have been able to do during the season, I am perfectly confident that Ferrari can do it over a winter break.

“I trust this team, I trust the capacity that we have back at home to turn things around.

“And there’s still circuits where we’re on pole for three-tenths to the Red Bull, it’s just that it’s a very specific trait of the car that is good; we need to make it more of an all-rounder.”