Sainz does not think about world title fight with Verstappen in 2022

Carlos Sainz had hoped to be on the top step of the podium by now, but a combination of factors has led to that not happening yet. However, the Ferrari driver says he is patient and does not want to think too much about capturing the world title in 2022.

In Australia and Imola, the Spaniard crashed out and in Azerbaijan, he was out again. It means three DNFs in eight weekends and 67 points behind leader Max Verstappen in the world championship. Although the season is still long, the difference is already extremely big. Marca Asked Sainz if he is currently thinking about winning the world championship.

Sainz is patient

"No, not really, in that sense my approach has changed a little bit, because it is true that with my zero points finishes I am far behind in the World Championship. That hurt and from that moment on I prefer not to think about the championship," the current number one in the standings revealed in an interview with the Spanish newspaper. His dropouts are a mix of his own mistakes and reliability issues with the F1-75.

Sainz: "It's also because I noticed that I wasn't comfortable enough in the car to go for poles and wins. Maybe the drive of wanting to win and take pole positions also meant that maybe I made a few mistakes too many. My strength has always been my consistency and knowing how to wait for my moments. My end of the year has always been very good, so I think this year I need to be a little more patient and wait until I feel a little more comfortable."

No win for Sainz yet

The Spaniard is still waiting for his first win in Formula 1. He already has a dozen podiums behind his name, but his first GP victory is still missing. In Monaco he was close, but then he was held up by Nicholas Latifi who did not react adequately to a blue flag. It cost Sainz a few seconds, allowing Sergio Perez to enter the track just ahead of him after his pit stop.