Carlos Sainz has had quite contrasting years at Ferrari so far. In 2021, the Spaniard was on the pace from the get-go. But, last year it just did not turn out the same way. Sainz struggled with the new ground effect cars and had a scrappy start to the season. Eventually, Carlos fell back in the title fight against his teammate Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Although, for 2023 he knows that he cannot afford another slowish start if he wishes to stay in the title fight.

According to Planet F1, speaking to the media, Sainz spoke about his learnings from the 2022 season as a whole. He also revealed how his season-ending strong form is going to help him this year. Carlos has analyzed how even in the 2nd half, he could not show his complete potential due to bad luck.

The Ferrari driver said, “That shows also my bad luck this year [2022]. Very strong in Austin, very strong in Brazil but in Austin I got bumped out of the race from George [Russell], and in Brazil, I had a grid penalty. That’s why I was looking forward to the season-ending.”

Despite these rocky results, Sainz revealed how the positive insights of his pace are crucial to a good start to 2023. He further added, “Taking the positives of how strong I am in the second half [of a season] to make sure that I’m in the fight next year from the beginning.” 

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Sainz finished 5th in the drivers’ standings last year with 246 points which included 1 win at Silverstone and 9 podiums in total. Relative to Leclerc and Verstappen, this performance was lacking consistency for sure. For a 2023 title challenge, he certainly needs more wins and podiums consistently.

Can Carlos Sainz be the surprise challenger of 2023?

If we look at the career of Carlos Sainz, the man has been an enigma. He never really gets the mention at the top level with Charles Leclerc or Max Verstappen. But, the Spanish driver is always there producing some great performances. But, can he convert this arguably underrated potential into a strong challenge?

With all the talk around Lewis Hamilton or Leclerc once again challenging Verstappen, Sainz may have less pressure on him. Of course, he would like to push himself to overcome his 2022 struggles. Yet, few may expect Carlos to be locked in a title battle with Verstappen this season.

So, these low expectations can help the Spaniard to fly under the radar and surprise everyone. If he can avoid a slow start and get on the pace from the first race, a title challenge may be possible.

Reportedly, even Ferrari is trying to resolve their engine reliability problems. Thus, Carlos may have one less thing to restrict him, as he suffered 6 DNFs last year, half of them due to the reliability of the car.

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Nonetheless, Sainz needs to show his pace at the first race in Bahrain. And if can fight consistently with Verstappen and Leclerc, who knows, the Scuderia may get its first world champion since 2007! It is a tall order, but you count out Sainz at your own peril.