Despite Well-Earned Podium, Carlos Sainz Left Discontent With Ferrari: “Happy for the Team, But…”

After a long time, it was a good day for Ferrari. The Prancing Horse secured a 2-3 finish at the Singapore Grand Prix. Despite finishing 3rd on the podium, Carlos Sainz was not completely happy.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz started the race in P4 on the grid. He even had a dream start to the race as he overtook Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton before the very first corner. He maintained that position throughout the race despite facing constant pressure from Hamilton. Then why was the Spaniard unhappy with his performance, despite winning some crucial points for his team?

Why is Carlos Sainz upset with himself after the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix?

Carlos Sainz earned 15 points for his team on Sunday. The Spaniard made sure that his team stay clear of Mercedes, who have been keeping them under pressure lately. After the race, Sainz said that he was happy for Ferrari, but not for himself.

Talking to ViaPlay, He said, “Overall I’m happy for the team.” [Translated using Google]

Sainz continued, “For myself, it wasn’t that good, even though I made it to a podium. I struggled a lot in the first half of the race on the intermediates. On the slicks, around the end of the race, I gained some speed and calmed down, but we have to look at what we can do better.”

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Sainz clarified that it wasn’t the set-up of the car that was posing him problems. It was the tires that bothered him. He said, “We should definitely look, but I don’t think it’s a set-up problem. It was more like something with the tires. I just didn’t do it well enough, we have to look at that.”

Sainz struggled to match Charles Leclerc’s pace

Despite the fact that Sainz took a podium finish, he was way behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished second. In Formula One, your teammate is considered your biggest competitor. This is why finishing more than 10 seconds behind Leclerc would hurt Sainz more.

Sainz showed promise on Friday during the Free Practice sessions. The Spaniard even registered the fastest lap in the second Free Practice session. This must have given him a much-needed confidence boost. But his struggle with the tires on a wet track must have been tough. On top of that, he had 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton right behind his great box. Nerve-racking indeed.

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With 5 more races to go, Sainz needs to keep himself motivated. He is currently battling with George Russell for a 4th position, with him trailing by just 1 point. And if he gets lucky, he could even challenge Sunday’s race winner Sergio Perez and his teammate for the 2nd position in the drivers’ standings. For now, that looks unlikely. However, the fans are surely not losing hope in the Smooth Operator.