Sainz admires teammate: 'It's a new challenge in my career'

Carlos Sainz is not having a good spell at Ferrari. In front of his home crowd, the Spaniard drove a catch-up race last weekend after another poor start to the race. The 2022 Ferrari car is still a big challenge for the driver.

Teammate Charles Leclerc was knocked off the throne by Max Verstappen last weekend as his Ferrari broke down mid-race. With 104 points, the Monegasque is only slightly behind the Dutchman. The strong 2022 Ferrari is doing a lot less well in the hands of Sainz. The Spaniard is on P5 with 65 points, nine points behind George Russell of Mercedes.

In conversation with F1.com Sainz honestly admitted: "It hasn't been easy. You can probably tell from the on boards and from the mistakes that I'm struggling with this car and don't quite understand how to get the most out of it yet. It provides a whole new challenge in my F1 career."

The Madrid native explains that he makes more mistakes than usual because the car forces him to think outside of the box.

Although Sainz finished in P4 in front of his home crowd after his overtaking race, he is not satisfied at all. Especially when he looks at his neighbor. Teammate Leclerc does have the car under control and is driving impressive lap times: "I can only admire that and try to copy it in some areas."