“He thought that was gravel,” Twitter reacts as Carlos Sainz goes for a spin in FP1 of F1 Bahrain GP

The start to the season for Carlos Sainz and Ferrari wasn't ideal, as the Spaniard spun in the first practice session, attracting some gravel jokes.

“He thought that was gravel,” Twitter reacts as Carlos Sainz goes for a spin in FP1 of F1 Bahrain GP

Carlos Sainz

The first race weekend of the 2023 Formula 1 season is now underway. As expected, Red Bull looked pretty good in the first practice session. Basically, everyone put them on top of the pile. However, for the team that many expect to be their main rival, Ferrari, things haven’t been particularly easy. Charles Leclerc, and in particular, Carlos Sainz had a tough time of it in FP1, with some issues.

The new, higher-downforce, single pylon rear-wing was wobbling during the track running. The Monegasque also had some issues with his clutch. As for Sainz, he felt that the car was understeering too much. It is being said that the SF-23 is more suited to Sainz’s driving style, and is more understeery. But when the driver who himself prefers understeer is saying that the car is understeering too much, it can’t be good news.

But it went from bad to worse. With around 22 minutes to go in the session, the Spaniard started a flying lap. He seemed to be struggling from the start and had a bit of a moment between turns 2 and 3. But as he went into turn 9, the car went over a bump and bottomed out. He lost the car, and went into a spin, but was able to avoid the barriers. He got going again but dived into the pits because he had flat-spotted the tires. But this spin made him an easy target for social media ridicule.

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Carlos Sainz gets no mercy from Twitter

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz

Last season, Carlos Sainz spun into the gravel on a few occasions, most notably in Australia, Imola, and Spain, but also during a Pirelli test at Fiorano. He beached the car in Australia by himself after making a mistake, while in Imola he was rear-ended by Daniel Ricciardo. In Spain, he caught a gust of wind but was able to continue. His trips into the gravel quickly became a running meme.

This time around in Bahrain, there was no gravel, but fans have not forgotten the past incidents. It seems that for a long time in the future, people will still relate Sainz spinning with him taking a trip into the gravel. This time has been no different, and Twitter is not forgiving.

https://twitter.com/sllw44/status/1631628453958021122?s=20
https://twitter.com/LHPOLELAPS/status/1631628488498094081?s=20

The good thing is that this didn’t happen during the race – it’s just the first practice session. Still, it’s definitely not ideal. After all, the first practice session and the first weekend sets the momentum for the rest of the season. It’s always better to start on top, or in a good way. Incidents like this put you a bit on the back foot. And because he destroyed those tires, he was not able to really go out with new fresh tires later and ended up dead last in the session. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the weekend goes for the Spaniard.

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