After a more complicated start to the season than expected, Carlos Sainz arrives at the Spanish Grand Prix with every intention of playing a leading role in the home race. The pilot of the Ferrari he has returned from third place in the Miami GP, a race he ran with a sore neck due to the accident he had during free practice on Saturday. There are therefore several questions that accompany the Spaniard on the eve of the sixth round of the world championship: is it still possible for him to enter the race for the world championship? What level of confidence did you achieve in driving your Ferrari given the accidents he recorded during the year and the two races he was unable to race due to accidents on the first lap?
Sainz answered these questions to the media present in the paddock of the Montmelò circuit, among which he was present FormulaPassion.italso dwelling on interesting considerations on the level of stress that these new single-seaters are imposing on the drivers’ bodies due to the hopping of the cars caused by the now famous porpoising effect.
Carlos, what is your opinion of your start to the championship?
“I’m obviously not entirely satisfied with how my season started. At the same time, if we look at the glass half full, I have always finished the races on the podium, when I have finished them. Even though I was never fully satisfied with my car, I fought for the pole positions. sure those two zero in the standings in Melbourne and Imola weigh a lot on the drivers’ standings, but there are still seventeen races to go and there is plenty of time to recover. Also here in Barcelona we will bring a new aerodynamic package which will probably allow us to obtain better performance. “
You have yet to win your first race in Formula 1 and you could do it right here in Barcelona, in your home race. Do you consider it a burden you need to get rid of?
“I would not call it a burden and I am not looking for this victory with impatience. Obviously I want to win but I am looking for my first win since the first day I entered Formula 1. I have waited a long time and I can wait a lot, even if winning in the home race would be the best thing. When I was a child I dreamed of being a Formula 1 driver and I made my dream come true. After that I realized another one: to be a Ferrari driver and so now I have to realize the dream of my first victory. This past week I have been training to recover from the aftermath of the Miami accident and arrive here fully prepared. The search for my first success continues to motivate me and pushes me to start training as early as seven in the morning. In short, I think about it all the time but it is not an obsession. My story has taught me that if you believe in it you can get what you want. If I don’t win in Spain I will try again in Monaco and then in Canada. It’s a really good feeling to get on the track and know you have the opportunity to win. “
Barcelona is certainly not famous for overtaking. Do you think that this year with these new single-seaters we will see more spectacle on the track?
“So far what we have seen this year is that on tracks where overtaking was historically considered difficult, overtaking has been a little easier. So I would say that we have to apply a difference to expectations. A track with impossible overtaking like Monaco becomes a track with difficult overtaking, but not impossible, and so on. “
In the last two races it seemed that Red Bull had an advantage in terms of tire degradation, suffering even a little less than you from the graining effect. Here in Barcelona the asphalt is very abrasive and from this point of view Red Bull should have an additional advantage. Are you worried about this?
“If you think about it in Melbourne Charles had an advantage over Red Bull in terms of degradation, then a week later in Imola the situation was reversed. I think during the season we will see a lot of variations in these balances. It is true that in the last two races Red Bull has had an advantage but it is not certain that it will be like this in every race, it will depend on many factors. “
However, Red Bull at the moment seems slightly ahead of Ferrari in terms of overall performance. Is that something that worries you?
“They probably have this advantage but in any case we in Miami fought with Red Bull for pole position and they have already brought several developments to the track, which we have not yet done. I have faith in the team and I think we have some nice solutions to introduce on our car. We are fighting against the world champion team of Formula 1 drivers and therefore we are going to be fast. Let’s see if our aerodynamic developments will be enough to counter them. “
How much is the porpoising effect penalizing you in lap time?
“Miami has been the best grand prix in porpoising management so far. We worked hard on it every racing weekend to make it disappear. For us, the most difficult Grand Prix were Imola and Melbourne due to the jolts. We just need to try new solutions. Here in Barcelona during the pre-season tests the porpoising was terrible. Let’s see if things will improve now with the product updates. Coming back here will be a good test for us to understand if we are moving in the right direction. “
Another winning weapon for Red Bull at this stage appears to be its remarkable straight-line speed. Are you thinking of modifications to the car to recover top speed?
“Honestly not a lot. We have our own simulation systems to define which are the best trim and wing configurations to have the best possible ride, without dwelling too much on straight-line speed. We certainly don’t want to sacrifice lap time to improve speed at the end of the straight. So far we have always worked like this and I would say it worked well. “
You talked about the physical consequences you had after the trial accident in Miami. Can we say that now you are fully recovered?
“Yes, I should be okay even if you can’t really know until you undergo lateral acceleration of 5g as it will happen from the first tests. I feel healed but until you get in the car you can’t tell. Regarding the accident itself I can say that I complained a lot about the Miami track. I had an accident at a relatively low speed and in any case less severe than other much more serious accidents I have had in the past. I shouldn’t have hurt myself like that. I asked that they put a barrier in Tecpro at that point but they replied that it was not needed because it was a completely anomalous accident that would not very unlikely have occurred again. Instead it happened to Ocon shortly after. I think at this point they should give us a solid explanation as to why these Tecpro barriers weren’t protecting that curve. In the end, the balance was of two riders with a sore neck and two severely damaged frames. “
In Miami you started very conservatively. Was it something you had decided before or did you have difficulties?
“There are two reasons for my not particularly aggressive departure. Firstly, on the inside line of corner one where I braked, there was never much grip during practice. Then probably the organizers did a good job in cleaning the track because the moment I braked at the start I found myself with a lot more grip than I expected. I could have braked much deeper but by now the choice was made. Secondly, I knew I needed to regain confidence with the car after two races in which I hadn’t finished the first lap. I needed to shoot, also because I haven’t reached 100% of the machine understanding level yet. So I didn’t want to risk the front wing in avoidable contact. Having finally lapped for an entire race, I learned some characteristics of the car’s behavior that I will be able to exploit here in Barcelona. “
Looking at the Monaco race, how do you expect these new single-seaters to perform on such a particular track?
“It will be a good challenge. Already in Miami, driving over curbs gave the pilot quite violent reactions. Even in Imola there were some disconnections that were quite annoying for the body. More generally, I think we should ask ourselves the price a driver has to pay in terms of health by driving these new cars for a whole career. The regulations we have are already very valid, but do we really have to race with cars that are so heavy and above all so rigid that they impose severe strain on the neck and back? It is a broader consideration that goes beyond the difficulties we will have in Monaco of course. I haven’t had any particularly thorough exams but this year I feel much stiffer in my joints. I don’t need a specialist to know that driving ten years of such machines will require me to work a lot on body flexibility. The subject of personal health is something that we pilots do not like to discuss publicly. we always want to appear strong and at our best, but for the long haul we should start talking and thinking about it. Of course the show is important, as are the interests of the teams. But the health of the drivers in the long term should also be put into the big picture. It is still very early to draw definitive conclusions, these are considerations that I began to develop after the first five races of the season. “
Leclerc drove right in Monaco during the Monaco Historic Gran Prix with Niki Lauda’s Ferrari 312 B3 and before that with Villeneuve’s Ferrari T4. Is trying historic Formula 1 Ferraris something you would like to try too?
“I’ve had the opportunity to do this in the past, it gives you a very precise insight into what this sport was about decades ago. But I’m quite divided on having these experiences. First of all I think “Why risk it?”. I mean, Leclerc is first in the standings with Ferrari and he is fighting for the championship. Why does he risk having an accident at this stage? At the same time, however, I am aware that driving such a car is a unique opportunity and personally when I drive a racing car I always push hard. I am not able to take it easy driving as they say with my arm out the window. In conclusion, I don’t know what to answer, it probably depends on the feelings of the moment. “
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