“I was losing the car,” Carlos Sainz blames lack of confidence for his poor finish at Baku

The Spaniard was outperformed by his teammate Charles Leclerc in all sessions

Carlos Sainz (Credits: Essentially Sports)

The beginning of the 2023 season has been harsh on the likes of Ferrari and its drivers. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have endured adversity and struggled to cope with their competitors, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin. Carlos Sainz, in particular, was subject to a harsh penalty in Melbourne, and his poor momentum carried itself to Baku.

Sainz only managed to finish the race P5, with the likes of his compatriot Fernando Alonso edging him out by over 20 seconds. The Spaniard struggled all weekend at Baku and looked like a shadow of his usual self. When interviewed by Autosport, he said, “As soon as I put the hard on, my struggles of the weekend appeared again, and I just had to bring home a P5, always very on the limit of crashing, or feeling like I was losing the car.”

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It had been a long and mentally taxing race for the driver, after struggling throughout the weekend. Testament to this, he managed to finish in fifth place. The team plans to investigate the reasons for their difficulties during the weekend and aims to perform better at the upcoming race in Miami. As an F1 driver, confidence is instrumental, and Sainz will look to get it back as soon as possible to bring home good results for the team.

Charles Leclerc dominated Carlos Sainz in Azerbaijan

The teammates went into the weekend lacking confidence and momentum after a dismal Australian Grand Prix. However, there was a stark contrast in their performances in Baku. Charles Leclerc finished on the podium, with Carlos Sainz only managing P5, barely fending off the likes of Lewis Hamilton, who was attacking him.

Leclerc dominated the proceedings, contrary to Sainz. The Monegasque claimed the pole position in qualifying, whereas his counterpart only managed P4. The sprint shootout saw things get worse for Sainz, as while his teammate once again stole pole position, the Spaniard had to settle for P5 and was beaten by George Russell.

?️| Carlos Sainz on Miami:

"I need a normal weekend to get back a feeling with the car, and if [the feeling] is the same as here, I will have a few sessions to experiment with set-up."

"But I don't expect it to be the same as my very strong weekend in Australia."

"I think we… pic.twitter.com/3nivJuX7Pz
— Pitinsider.com (@pitinsider) May 3, 2023

The sprint race saw Charles Leclerc cross the line in P2, scoring valuable points. Sainz finished P5, the same as he started. He never really looked threatening and looked more concerned about keeping the car in one piece. The race on Sunday saw Leclerc step on the podium after finishing in an admirable P3, fending off Fernando Alonso. Sainz was far off the pace and did not possess the confidence one requires at street circuits like Baku and finished fifth.

The difference between the duo this weekend was immense, once again highlighting precisely why Leclerc is the number one on the team from Maranello. Leclerc has closed the gap to Sainz by a mere six points in the drivers’ championship after the Azerbaijan GP. The Spaniard blames the new sprint format for his team’s shortcomings with respect to the vehicle setup and seeks to regain his confidence at the next race.