A “painful” start to the season for Carlos Sainz
Despite a two-year contract extension with Ferrari, Carlos Sainz's 2022 season didn't really start well. Although he had a strong start with two podium finishes, he couldn't cross the finish line in the following two Grand Prix races.
In Bahrain, Scuderia Ferrari achieved a one-two finish in the opening round. With the victory of Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc and the second place of Carlos Sainz, Ferrari made a promising comeback to the forefront. In the following Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia, Carlos Sainz once again reached the podium with a fine third place.
Things took a turn for the worse for the Spaniard from the Australian Grand Prix onwards. A victim of a technical issue and a last-minute change of steering wheel, Sainz ended his race in the gravel trap for one of the most disappointing Grand Prix of his career. For the following Grand Prix in Italy, the Scuderia was under scrutiny. While the team took advantage of the opportunity to announce Sainz’s contract extension until 2024, the driver saw his race come to an end on the first lap due to a collision with Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren.
For Carlos Sainz, this season’s start is particularly difficult. There is always a race in a season where you make a mistake and another where you are removed. The most difficult part is that it happens one after the other,” Sainz confessed. “It is more painful, but luckily we have left that behind us for the first part of the season and we can start focusing on the rest of the year,” he explained.
