Carlos Sainz sure of return to form in Miami after ‘damage limitation’ Azerbaijan GP with “no confidence”

Carlos Sainz struggled throughout the Azerbaijan GP weekend, but he is confident about giving a better account of himself during the next race in Miami.

Carlos Sainz sure of return to form in Miami after ‘damage limitation’ Azerbaijan GP with “no confidence”

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz had a terrible weekend in Baku. He continued to struggle, from FP1 down to the race. Because he was uncomfortable with the car; the braking and other balance issues, he could not extract its real pace. In contrast, his teammate, Charles Leclerc was able to do this, and finished on the podium, holding off Fernando Alonso just narrowly. Sainz himself only held off Lewis Hamilton narrowly.

It was clear throughout the weekend that Sainz was much slower than Leclerc, especially so in qualifying. It was a weekend to forget for the Spaniard like it was the case last season in Baku. He’ll just hope that Miami will be better, and in all likelihood, it should be. Ferrari will introduce the first of a series of major upgrades in Miami, which should help their performance by the end of the cycle, in Barcelona. Whether or not this helps them catch Red Bull, there’s no way to find out.

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In a post-race interview with Lawrence Barretto, when asked if the race was about ‘damage limitation’, Sainz replied: “Yeah, it was like that. I had to focus on just controlling Lewis, and to finish in P5 without any mistakes because today there was just no confidence to push in the car, to get close to the walls when you feel the car [being] very loose around Baku…it is just what it is.”

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Now is the time to analyze what went wrong for Sainz in Baku. The Spaniard is confident that Miami will be much better: “But, yeah, we will now focus on what happened. We will finally have a bit of time to settle down and analyze what could’ve been, and I’m sure, [in] Miami, we will be back on form.” Last year, he had finished on the podium there.

Read More: F1 Azerbaijan GP: “He and his son Max are always complaining” – Fans shun Fernando Alonso for protesting Carlos Sainz’s fair defense at Baku 

Carlos Sainz: Understanding race pace deficit “very high on our [Ferrari’s] list”

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz

Even if Carlos Sainz struggled, it was apparent that Ferrari took a significant step in Baku. Charles Leclerc’s podium is plain proof of that. The Monegasque retired twice in the first three races, and the other time, he finished a lowly seventh. This time around, they were clearly better matched with Aston Martin. The one-lap pace of the F1-75 also looked strong, as Leclerc took two poles.

But it’s obvious: Ferrari have to improve their race pace. Sainz acknowledged this: “I think we extracted performance out of the car, but if you look in detail at our race compared to the Aston Martin and Red Bull, they still have relatively much better race pace than qualifying pace [when] compared to us. This is very high up on our list that we want to understand and keep improving, because definitely, the points are on Sunday, and it’s where you want to be quicker.”

Ferrari’s stated goal for 2023 was to win the championship. It was the same for each driver. But four races in, it looks unlikely, though maybe not impossible. There are still 19 races to go, and anything can happen. The Maranello team’s upgrades are not expected to help challenge Red Bull, but rather help them seal P2. But perhaps when the cost cap penalty hits Red Bull, they can take advantage.

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