Carlos Sainz struggled to get to grips with his 2022 Formula 1 car, the Ferrari F1-75, but claimed it’s the year he has learned the most since his debut in 2015.
Naturally, being his first year in F1, 2015 was a steep learning curve for Carlos Sainz who debuted in top flight with Toro Rosso (no AlphaTauri) coming through the ranks of the Red Bull junior driver program.
Sainz has come a long way since then, and after a successful first season with Ferrari in 2021, where he beat highly rated teammate Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard has struggled to cope with his team’s 2022 charger, built around the new aero regulations with ground effect.
Sainz was honest that he put in so much effort to learn how to drive his F1-75, and has notably improved over the course of the season.
He was asked about the matter in Sao Paulo on Thursday; he responded: “I think in that sense, it’s been the year that I’ve learned the most since 2015. That was my first year in Formula 1.
Sainz has never been challenged as he was in 2022
“So then I had tougher and easier years but never such a challenging year as 2022 where I found myself in a position where I was driving with this car, I was constantly off the pace in the first five, six races, and I had to fight a lot to change some things in my driving, some things on the car, try to get the car a bit closer to my liking but also, stop having some muscle memory on the way I drive and reset a bit the way I was driving, and it took a long time,” he explained.
“But then, at the same time, as soon as it happened, I felt like I had done a big step forward as a driver in my skills, in my development, and I had learned a load,” Sainz revealed.
“And this is probably the part of the season that I feel more proud of, because I think it would have been very easy with such a tough start to give up on the season and wait for another car to see if I was more competitive, but I didn’t give up on it.
“I kept pushing. And even in these last few races, I’m still trying different stuff. I’m still trying different ways to drive, different ways to set up the car and I could do in progress. So it leaves me optimistic about next year,” he revealed.
Asked about Ferrari’s chances to take the fight to Red Bull in 2023, the Ferrari driver said: “I feel we have chances. I mean, Red Bull has been dominant, but they’ve been dominant without being clearly ahead in pure quali pace and race pace.
Ferrari has a fighting chance in 2023
“So I don’t feel like we are so far behind in terms of car development and car performance,” he insisted. “If you think about it, I was on pole in Austin, so it means that we were one-two in Austin in quali. So it must be that our car is actually not that far from the Red Bull.
“And what we need to focus on is in trying to understand next year’s tyres,” Sainz said referring to Ferrari’s chronic tyre wear issues during races. “See how we can be quicker in the race because it’s clear that the Red Bull is particularly quick in the race compared to us.
“And for the strategy, race execution, tyre management, that’s another step that we want to take next year that we are already working on it,” the 28-year-old from Madrid pointed out with regards to Ferrari’s embarrassingly repetitive strategy blunders.
“But in terms of pure performance, we are not far. We just need to put on a bit more power and a bit more downforce in the car and we’re going to be at the same level or faster. So let’s hope that we can do that,” he concluded.
After his early season troubles, Sainz made his F1 breakthrough with pole and victory at the 2022 British Grand Prix. He followed that by two more pole positions in Belgium and Austin.
Sainz currently sits sixth in the Drivers’ Standings with 212 points, four less than Lewis Hamilton on fifth.