Ferrari: 'Strong performance from Sainz doesn't make him a leader'

Mattia Binotto proclaimed from the start of the Formula One season that Ferrari would not give preferential treatment to either driver. By mid-2022, the Scuderia's team boss continues to maintain that position and meanwhile Carlos Sainz is creeping closer and closer in the standings. However, this does not change the team's approach, Laurent Mekies explains.

Ferrari's race director therefore denies any talk of a first and second driver, as does Damon Hill's suggestion that the focus would shift to Sainz if the Spaniard performs better than his teammate Charles Leclerc. "You are very right in saying that Carlos has had three extremely strong weekends: Silverstone, Austria, France," Mekies replied to the Sky Sports analyst's question. "We are very, very happy with that."

Outside of Silverstone, Mekies says it wasn't as evident in the final rankings because the team "had other things to deal with." In Austria, Sainz's power unit failed and subsequently caught fire, while in France Ferrari made another strategic error. Nevertheless, Sainz's progress is clear to see, Mekies stressed.

"We made no secret at the beginning of the year that naturally the car was not suiting him very well," the Ferrari chief continued. The team has worked a lot with the Spanish driver and his engineers to make him feel better in the car and improve his performance. Mekies underlines that things seem to be going in the right direction for Sainz, but denies that this makes the driver a leader.