There is no room for melancholy. On the eve of his last Monza in ‘red’ Carlos Sainz leaves no room for sentimentality. He is aware that he could have an opportunity to leave an important mark, and his mind is only on that goal.
Zandvoort is now behind us, the Dutch problems have been analyzed but now the focus is on the updates that Ferrari will bring to the track this weekend. Sainz is not committing himself, to get an idea of the objectives that the Scuderia can aim for he waits for the two free practice sessions scheduled for tomorrow.
In Zandvoort you talked about the limitations of the car, pointing out the bouncing. In light of the findings from last weekend, is the bouncing problem a bigger problem for you in qualifying than in the race?
“Yes. In qualifying everything is more extreme, you go faster, you put more ‘G’ into the car and the floor jumps more than in the race. I think, however, that the problem in Zandvoort was not just the bouncing, there were other variables that did not allow us to maximize the potential of the car. In the race the car proved to be more performing, in line with what we expected”.
In the last race weekends you have underlined how the limit of this car emerges in the medium-slow corners. In reality it is a problem that you have complained about for years, do you think that your feedback has not been listened to by the team?
“No, my feedback has always been taken into consideration. Then, as a driver you always hope that a new single-seater or a new update will make the car behave as you would like. I complained about the bouncing already in 2022, it is something that bothers me and, obviously, still having to deal with this problem in 2024 is not a pleasant thing for me, because I am aware that without bouncing we can be faster. But this does not mean that it was not listened to, the problem is being able to find the solution”.
For everyone in the paddock, McLaren has confirmed itself as the best performing car in the last races, but at the same time we have seen a Mercedes capable of winning at Spa and finishing the Zandvoort race in seventh and eighth position. Do you think that, if the upgrade you will bring to the track this weekend works as expected, you will be able to aim for the best result?
“I don’t know, but… when Mercedes goes from a win to seventh place I see that it’s not a drama, if it happens to us at Ferrari it seems like the end of the world! What I want to say is that all the teams are in the same situation, we are carrying forward developments that sometimes work and sometimes don’t. In this technical cycle the first to understand how to make the single-seater work best were the Red Bull technicians, now it’s McLaren’s turn, we have seen that every time they have brought a technical update to the track they have taken a step forward, and this has made them the team to beat. The rest of the group is struggling to find that tenth or two that are missing to get to the McLaren level or to surpass them. To understand where we will be this weekend we have to wait for tomorrow’s tests”.
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
You’ll be thirty on Sunday. What gift would you like?
“The victory”.
Last year, the day after your birthday, you gave yourself a historic pole position. Today you are on the eve of your last Monza in ‘red’. Is there a hint of melancholy?
“Yes and no. I say ‘no’ because I am turning thirty as a Ferrari driver on the Monza circuit, and with a real chance of aiming for the podium and perhaps victory. I want to try to make the most of this opportunity, today for me it is the most important thing. I was lucky enough to have won my first races in Formula 1 at the wheel of a Ferrari, to have been a driver for the Scuderia for four years, and I still have nine races to go. At this moment I don’t feel any melancholy, but I have a great desire to take advantage of this opportunity, which may be my last with a Ferrari at Monza”.
We know how special it is to drive a Ferrari, but was there a moment when you thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m really doing this’? When did you first put on the red overalls?
“My first test at Fiorano, we know how special that track is for Ferrari and, I think, for any Formula 1 driver. When I saw myself in the red overalls and jumped into the red car… I saw my father who was there with me that day very emotional. Then he wiped away a tear when I was about to leave the box, it’s a memory I’ll never forget. And then, yes, the first Monza, my pole here last year, the podium, seeing so much red and hearing everyone singing and screaming your name. It’s something that will stay with me forever, something that one day I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren.”
Frederic Vasseur says that in his opinion you have been a bit underestimated in the paddock. Have you personally felt that your skills as a driver were not fully recognized?
“I have always said, and believed, that people who know this sport well evaluate me well, for this reason I have never felt undervalued. I believe that with a calendar of 24 races my talent and my strengths are seen every year.”
What did the analysis of the Zandvoort weekend make you understand? How should we read the change of pace between Saturday and Sunday with the same car?
“The atypical result was qualifying, the performance seen on Sunday was in line with what we have seen in the last races, maybe a tenth better, but still in line. The atypical outcome of the weekend was qualifying, given that we found ourselves almost a second away from the McLaren. We carried out some analyses, we got an idea, but to have confirmation of the truth we would have to go back to Zandvoort and run with the track in the same conditions and with the same temperature. So I would say we will never know”.
#Sainz #birthday #present #win