‘I will never forget the memories of that day,’ Carlos Sainz reminisces about his incredible first-ever race win in Silverstone
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Carlos Sainz celebrates his win at the 2022 British Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz ticked off a few boxes in 2022: His first pole position and his first-ever win. But ultimately, the season did not go how he would have wanted it to. The car wasn’t particularly suited to him at the start of the season, and understandably, adapting took time. It did not help that he retired six times during the season: twice in the first corner, and twice from reliability failures.
But Sainz’s moment finally came at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone: In qualifying, he kept everything under control and took pole position. During the race, he overtook teammate Charles Leclerc on the safety car restart and sailed off into the distance, doing everything he had to for his first-ever F1 win. The first one is always unforgettable for a driver, and Sainz is no different in this regard.
Speaking to RacingNews365.com about that day, the Spaniard said that having his first victory be in Silverstone made it even better: “To take a first victory in F1 for a team like Ferrari is already amazing, but to do it on a circuit like Silverstone made the moment complete. It was a special day in my racing career and I will never forget the memories of that day.”
Standing on the podium was the best moment for Sainz: “The race was also one of the best races of the season, so that made the day even more special actually. Being on the podium was the best moment of the day, because you get to hear the Spanish and Italian national anthems and see the people from the team standing below. That gives a great feeling.”
Carlos Sainz feels even 24 races a year is ‘doable’
There will be at least 23 races in 2023 (barring another cancellation) if the Chinese GP is not replaced, which is (at least) one more than there were in 2022, and the most ever amount of races ever in an F1 season. The calendar has been undergoing a gradual expansion since 2017 (with one COVID-induced blip in 2020), and it may grow further, even though 24 is the current limit.
While some have spoken out against the increasing number of races (including fans), Carlos Sainz does not see even 24 races as being a problem for him: “24 races is quite a lot, but I’m young and probably in the best phase of my career. So for me it’s doable, I enjoy traveling and being able to be competitive. I’m currently living my dream as a Ferrari driver and I love seeing the world.”
However, he acknowledged that this amount of races is ‘very tough’ for other people in the paddock who are away from their families a lot. Sainz thinks that F1 will have to compromise in this aspect and look carefully to make sure that there is going to be a right balance for people’s private lives.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)