The 2022 Canadian Grand Prix shaped up to be an exciting race, with Max Verstappen taking the honors. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz had to settle for a second despite powering his best efforts to beat the Dutchman.

The Spaniard came into this week in search of a positive result. He has been struggling with momentum in recent times, and as a result, sits 5th in the standings. The 27-year-old is already 73 points behind leader Verstappen, so his championship aspirations are distant now.

However, he is optimistic about his ability and stated his desire to be a team player. “I believe in the title. For me, for Ferrari, and also for Charles. My approach is now to go race by race. If this leads me to fight for the title, that’s fine. If I can help Ferrari or Charles, I will, but I want to be fast in every race,” he said. (Translated using Google)

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Sainz has struggled to adapt to the car this year. Following two podiums in the first two races, the former McLaren driver suffered DNF in the next two races. And because of a hydraulics issue, he was forced to retire in Azerbaijan.

Building on results has been his problem this year. However, Sainz matched Verstappen in Canada, which will boost his confidence. Now, he will hope to continue pushing the front-runners as the season progresses.

A morale-boosting performance for Carlos Sainz in Canada

With Leclerc starting from the back of the grid, it was a weekend where Sainz needed to step up. Although he did not win the race, the Spaniard pushed Verstappen all the way and ended up P2 whilst securing the fastest lap of the race.

Speaking after the race, he stated, “This weekend I was quicker. This weekend, for the first time in the championship I was the fastest guy on track both in the medium and on the hard – I was catching Max on both occasions.”

“I felt comfortable with the car, I was close to the walls with confidence, and I felt comfortable out there. It’s a pity not to have got the first win.”

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Ferrari have matched Red Bull in terms of race-pace following their upgrades in Spain. With Perez’s retirement, the Prancing Horse secured more points than Red Bull this week. They will hope to fix their reliability issues, which have hampered them in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Sainz’s performance would have pleased the Ferrari faithful. However, the question of whether he can challenge the top 3 still remains. Do you feel Sainz can take his game up a notch? Let us know in the comments.