Carlos Sainz has undoubtedly been performing in every car he has raced in. He has been partnered with some of the best drivers in Formula 1. He partnered with Max Verstappen in Toro Rosso, Nico Hulkenberg in Renault, Lando Norris in McLaren, and now Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
In his first season with Ferrari, he outscored his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and shocked many people. It is not often that a Formula 1 driver beats his teammate during their first season with the team.
What happened to Carlos Sainz in 2022?
In 2022, Sainz was off to a bad start. This was mainly because of the significant rule changes going into the season. Ferrari had to change the car completely which did not complement Sainz’s driving style at that time. Sainz has been reported saying that he had to change his driving style completely in order to get comfortable with the car.
Once Sainz got comfortable with the car, we were able to see a few good performances from him. We all remember the race in Silverstone where he got his first victory. From then on, he became a bit more consistent.
Over the last few years, we have seen some impressive performances from Carlos Sainz. He was able to deliver a podium for McLaren in 2019. At the time, McLaren had not achieved a podium since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
Is Carlos Sainz quicker than Charles Leclerc?
Carlos Sainz has a bit more experience in Formula 1 than Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz made his F1 debut in 2015 as a Torro Rosso driver alongside a younger Max Verstappen. Leclerc on the other hand, made his debut in 2018 with Alfa Romeo.
Although Carlos has more experience than Leclerc, Charles found a seat with Ferrari in the 2019 season and immediately had great success. Leclerc achieved his first victory in the Belgian Grand Prix in 2019. Later that year, he went on to win Ferrari’s home race at Monza. This sparked huge celebrations among the Tifosi.
Carlos Sainz later joined Ferrari in 2021 after the split between Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel. He showed incredible pace in the Ferrari. Carlos has proven to be more consistent over the years. Over the course of the season, consistency is quick to achieve a good position in the Championship standings.
Leclerc has shown some incredible pace in the 2022 season. He was a key challenger to Max Verstappen in the Red Bull during the first half of the season. Later the team faced reliability issues, driver errors, and bad strategy calls, which eventually cost them the championship.
In 2023, it is all going to come down to who is more consistent with the current car. We are no longer in an era where a win equals 10 points. Right now a race win awards the driver and the team with a massive 25 points. DNFs will prove to be significant when it comes to the championships. Charles Leclerc has already had 2 DNFs in the first 3 races of the season. This will prove costly for his battle against his teammate.
Although Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz seem to be friends on camera, they recently had a dispute during qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc was expecting a tow from Carlos which he failed to give. Sainz qualified in P5 ahead of Leclerc in P7.
Can Ferrari beat Aston Martin and Mercedes in 2023?
Ferrari is off to a disappointing start to the 2023 season. After the first 3 races of the season, Red Bull is clearly the favorite going into the 2023 season. The rest of the teams might not be able to catch up with them in time to compete for the championship. Now Ferrari focuses on their battle for 2nd place with Mercedes and Aston Martin.
Aston Martin has made a surprising leap from P7 in 2022 to fight for podiums and victories in 2023. Mercedes was hoping to be faster this year but is left in shock by the pace of Red Bull. George Russell also believes that Red Bull has been sandbagging during the races so as to not attract too much attention forcing a regulation change.
Ferrari is currently placed in 4th place in the WCC, with Mercedes 30 points ahead in 3rd place and Aston Martin another 9 points ahead in second place. It is going to take a lot of effort from Ferrari to keep up with these teams. Leclerc obviously is off to a bad start, but luckily, Sainz finished P4 in Bahrain and P6 in Saudi Arabia.
In Australia, Sainz received a penalty which saw them go from 4th place to out of the points in the race. Ferrari has formally submitted an appeal for the penalty, but we are yet to receive a conclusion to this case. So far it has not been Ferrari’s season, but hopefully, for the Tifosi, it’ll turn around.
Can Ferrari win the championship soon?
Ferrari won their last championship back in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen. The team has come close in previous years with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, but none of them were successful. Although it looks unlikely that they could win this year, they will be given a chance for the 2024 season.
Red Bull was hit with a penalty for crossing the budget cap in 2021. The penalty gave them a reduced Aerodynamic Testing time. This means they won’t be able to develop the 2023 and the 2024 cars at the pace they would have wanted to. If Ferrari could seize this opportunity, they could have a good chance for the 2024 Championship with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the wheel.