Sainz had to push: 'Never been so far behind my teammate'

Carlos Sainz has had to work hard to get on par with Charles Leclerc this year. The Spaniard was fed up with his own performance, but through hard work he has been able to turn the tide.

From the first race in 2022, Ferrari's F1-75 proved extremely competitive this year, but where Leclerc managed to win two of the first three races, Sainz did not manage to do so. Whereas he had been very close to his new teammate in 2021, the second year was a lot tougher at the Italian racetrack.

Ferrari fast in 2022

''I have never been 0.2-0.3secs off any team-mate in F1 and I can never accept that,'' Sainz said about it in conversation with the BBC. Sainz won the qualifying duel from Max Verstappen in his first season at Toro Rosso and was equal to Lando Norris at McLaren. Yet he also had a lesser season as a mercenary at Renault alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

At Ferrari, Sainz is permanently under contract and so it was a matter of getting better as soon as possible. ''For the first time in my career I found myself with a very competitive car but one I didn't feel comfortable and natural with.''

Sainz hits back

Sainz then points to this process as the reason for the mistakes he made throughout the season. He had to try things out to learn more about the car again. ' 'I had to challenge myself and open up new roads of set-up and driving style. But it was all about trial and error and then coming back and discovering a new path that was a little step forward,'' the 28-year-old driver concludes.

Sainz has indeed managed to turn the tide, as the average difference in qualifying is now just 0.088s in the Monegasque's favour. It stands 14-6 in the qualifying duel, but of the last eight qualifiers, Sainz finished ahead of his teammate four times. The upward trend has started, now Sainz needs to continue it towards 2023.