Ferrari boss believes Carlos Sainz’s improvement in form is not just a technical con, but a new way of thinking. According to Mattia Binotto, lessons from the Canadian timing experience also contributed to the Spaniard’s top spot.
Carlos Sainz surprised himself by winning the rainy British Grand Prix qualifying session. You can start your 150th F1 race with this from the first grid. While luck also helped him take first place on Saturday (Charles Leclerc raced, Max Verstappen couldn’t improve due to the yellow flag), it is also clear that the Spaniard is feeling more and more at home at Ferrari this year after initial difficulties.
Sainz made no secret of the fact that the 2022 race machine did not suit his driving style, his slowdowns in the first races, as well as the mistakes he made, were due to the fact that he felt a little weird at the wheel. However, since his illness in Barcelona, he has visibly improved. From this point of view, the success of the time trial is a kind of affirmation.
Sainz said up front that it would only be clear on the British track if his better form for the past three weekends was solely due to his slower track personality, or whether he has made headway in fast corners compared to Barcelona. At Silverstone, in the rain, everyone passed, indicating that confidence is given.
“For sure, I felt comfortable and confident in the second free training. Compared to Barcelona, for example, I am more comfortable. Both with the car and my driving”
confirmed it.
But he added that there is some inconsistency between his situation on Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, and he doesn’t know if his car will be okay on a dry track. “The third free practice was a challenge. We slipped, and we know why, we don’t know if we had it all resolved by Sunday. It was good in the rain. I had to run the tires and once that was done I felt good. We’ll see how the race pace is, but I’d like to I believe I’ve made good progress lately.” – He hinted that they still have to test the changes before qualifying on the dry track.
Sainz has already spoken in Canada about how he and Ferrari have been able to adapt the F1-75 more and more to his taste, and he also gets to know better what the car expects of him. However, its boss Mattia Binotto believes that the improvement is not due to technical changes.
“We didn’t change the settings. I’d rather say he changed his way of thinking. His expectations are different and he’s just trying to keep his cool, get the best out of the car and wait for confidence to come in.”
It is to explain.
He explained what this means by comparing it to the Canadian temporal pilot training. Two weeks ago, qualifying was also held in the rain, but Sainz risked too much at the end of his last calculated lap for a chance to beat Max Verstappen. In the end, he was overtaken by Fernando Alonso and only finished third. Binotto also remarked after the race: perhaps because of this Sainz lost a hair win the next day. “You have to be perfect to beat Verstappen” is don.
Carlos Sainz (Photo: Ferrari)Sainz has now won in Great Britain just by keeping his car on the right track. His circuit wasn’t great, in fact, he felt totally weak on the inside because he made mistakes and ran out of ERS. But since Charles Leclerc turned around in the meantime, it was stability that brought him success.
According to Binotto, the connection between Montreal and Silverstone is clear. “The conditions were very similar and I think he learned a lesson from qualifying in Canada. He is a good student and he has shown that he can improve constantly. He really deserved it and I think he became more satisfied with his car. It was the same in Canada, although his time was not Great. Today he has remained calm and patient in such difficult circumstances and has put himself out there at the right time.”
Canada was very important to him. Both race and time trial. He thought about what went wrong in qualifying and why he wasn’t first even though the car had the potential to do so. This time he was calm and did not exaggerate.
– The secret of success indicated the Ferrari chief.
It’s hard to be a rain man in Formula One
Meanwhile, fellow Red Bull teammate Christian Horner talked about how the Sainz has always been great in the rain, even as their junior driver. The Spaniard was also asked about this, but according to him, it would be difficult to say that he won because of the qualities of rain.
“Having a pole in the rain is always a good feeling, and it’s also true that he always goes well in the rain. But also for friends. There are twenty drivers in Formula 1 who were usually the best in the rain in the classes they competed in. In F1 it is much more difficult Knowing the difference in the rain.In the other categories it was very easy to go out and stay in first place with a half a second advantage, because maybe the standard wasn’t as high as in F1.But when you get into Formula 1, you think you’re the best in the rain, and then you see Max, Charles, Lewis and others are very proficient in the rain, and that makes it very difficult for you to achieve the additional advantage, the tenth to.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (Photo: Ferrari)“Today was a good example of how close it is. It’s like on dry ground. Every round is a battle and it’s hard to tell the difference. The balance was good in the rain, but the bottom line is the tire performance. If you succeed, you’re fast, and if you don’t, it’s hard.” “ – Ferrari explained.
You will enjoy the warm-up period
It would be a new position for Sainz in F1 to start from the front of the field. So far, the second starting point was the peak for him. He feels he will enjoy not having anyone in front of him.
“I think it would be great to complete the warm-up with Ferrari in the lead. It will be the first, but I don’t think I’ve forgotten what it has been like since the last time, which was in the Renault World Series. However, I’ve already raced in Formula 1, in Portimao, and it was a great feeling. The goal is to do it again now.”
When asked how he plans to expand his car against Verstappen and Leclerc, he said: “Well I hope it’s not necessary and I can run my own pace, my own race. We’ll see. The others will be fast. We’ve had a close fight against Charles and Max all year, so it’s going to be a fun race.” – Tell.
