The hidden Ferrari struggle that Sainz’s recent charge put to rest

One of the big downsides of Formula 1’s current COVID-19 protocols is the distance that has been put between the drivers and the media.

Gone (hopefully temporarily) is the chance for a quick chat with a driver in the motorhome to chew the fat and find out a bit more detail about what’s going on behind the scenes.

The situation has also not been helped by written media press opportunities having been turned into a television spectacle – dominated by moderated questions and a format that produces only stilted responses from drivers that offer very limited value.

Where once we could spend a decent amount of time chatting to every driver about detailed technical aspects of the car, of circuits, or their experiences, as an information gathering exercise, now the new way of doing things means that such chances are rare.

Soundbites are sadly what F1’s chiefs seem to prefer being out there.

That is why it was so refreshing this week to spend a big chunk of time talking to Carlos Sainz Jr in detail about life at Ferrari – away from the pressures and strains of a grand prix weekend and without the spotlight of an F1 official broadcast streaming it around the world.

Sainz has always been one of the smartest, down to earth and most straightforward drivers to deal with. So, clearly in relaxed mood, he had no qualms as he laughed about the bizarre scenario of how he had come to sign his first Ferrari F1 contract in his pyjamas.

But what especially came over during the chat was that, at a time when his stock is high after his brilliant charge from the back of the grid to eighth to grab Driver of the Day at the Turkish Grand Prix, he was not afraid to admit that things have not been all plain sailing this year.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

In fact, where over the first half of the year a lot of people had credited Sainz for a seamless transition to Ferrari whereas other ‘new boys’ Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso were struggling, the reality is that the Spaniard was facing his own secret headaches.

“What I can tell you is that I did have my struggles, but maybe they were not in the media as much, because they were not so obvious,” explained Sainz.

“It is true that I was very close to Charles [Leclerc] in terms of pace but I was struggling at the beginning of the year with the feeling of the dirty air in this car.

"I was struggling a lot. I had to adapt, chase it, but it has suddenly became a bit stronger now towards the end of the year" Carlos Sainz Jr

“It was making me weak in an area where I have always excelled, which is the start, plus the first two laps, where I was gaining a lot of positions in the McLaren and in the Renault.

“Suddenly I was having big moments in the Ferrari in the first two laps. It's something that I've tried to improve on through the year, to try and get the feeling by changing a lot the switches in the steering wheel, and to try and have a car that gives me more confidence in the first two laps.

“I know people didn't talk about it because it's obviously more important to be on the pace in quali, and on the pace in race pace, but the first laps are the second most important thing in F1.

“And I was struggling a lot. I had to adapt, chase it, but it has suddenly became a bit stronger now towards the end of the year.”

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

On top of the wake problems, Sainz also found it hard to get fully confident with the front end of the car under braking.

“I tend to front lock a bit more with the Ferrari, and I struggled with the front tyres,” he said. “As you saw in Sochi, locking the front tyres is something that is a weakness of the car that we are trying to address.”

But recent circumstances have served Sainz well in delivering him the opportunity to address these core issues. Where he found himself in Sochi (at the front) and Turkey (at the back) put an onus on him needing to deliver when it came to braking late, and operating in the wake of other cars.

On race morning at both events, he woke up with a strong conviction of having a point to prove.

“It is true that sometimes I feel like there's opportunities to shine,” he said. “There's days that you wake up saying: I feel confident, I’ve got a good feeling with the car on Friday, in the race trim.

“The car this weekend is giving me good braking confidence so I'm going to send a couple of good moves, and I'm going to try and shine a bit more aggressive today.

“There's drivers that I think have this very inherent. They always drive in that way, and I always try to find the right balance.

“But, for example in Turkey, I woke up saying, ‘today I need to be aggressive’. I have nothing to lose and I need to drive as aggressive as I've ever been with Ferrari. I need to try and do some moves that I used to do with McLaren.

“Or in Sochi, with Lando [Norris] at the start. I said, when I woke up that day, that I need to be P1 at the start. On the laps to the grid I practiced three or four laps, just braking as late as I could into Turn 1, just to see what I could achieve.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, George Russell, Williams FW43B, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR21, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, and the rest of the field at the start

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“Maybe I come across as a guy that thinks a lot about the way that he races and plans a lot, but I actually have my days where I try and, let's say, close a bit more my eyes and go for it.

“It's part of my plan; part of my way of racing a bit. And my dad calls it messages: to try and send good messages.”

What has been especially encouraging for Sainz is that, having sensed an opportunity in Russia and Turkey to try to push in the areas where he had weakness, that he was actually able to deliver. The messages were indeed sent.

It’s why Turkey in particular, knowing full well that he was facing an afternoon of being stuck in the wake of other cars, marked something of a more important afternoon for him than it appeared even from outside the car.

"I thought Turkey would be a good opportunity to build it up from Sochi, and give it another go on really trying to be aggressive and give me a breakthrough" Carlos Sainz Jr

Reflecting on the value of that Turkey performance, Sainz has labelled it as a bit of a breakthrough and the start of what he hopes will be a much more aggressive finish to the campaign.

“I was coming from a very positive weekend in Sochi - I had just done the move from the start on Lando, and actually this gave me the feeling that maybe I had had a bit of a breakthrough with the car in the on-track battles,” he said.

“It was something that, because of the wake of the car, it hadn't given me the confidence to be aggressive with the overtakes, and to be aggressive during the race.

“I thought maybe Turkey would be a good opportunity to build it up from Sochi, and give it another go on really trying to be aggressive and maybe this gives me a bit more of a breakthrough.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“I went out there with that mindset and actually, right from lap one, I tried to make moves where before I was a bit reluctant to do so. It worked really well. One was close with Seb [Vettel]. I came from far behind. It just went in, but it was quite tricky.

“And I think it was a good confidence booster. Now, I need to find a limit of how aggressive I can be. Maybe it comes with a little contact in one or two races from here to the end of the year, but I want to find the other end of the spectrum.

“Maybe in the first half I lacked confidence and I wasn't doing enough. This second half I'm going try to be on the other end of the spectrum to see if I can keep being aggressive.”

This calculated stance is typical of Sainz, who takes an intelligent approach to his job and the art of being a racing driver.

He is not one to go super aggressive all the time, but he is well aware that there are times when it is necessary. He knows that opportunities exist when you are established in F1 that aren’t always there when you start your racing career.

And, having found himself comfortable in his new surroundings at Ferrari, and boosted by how things have gone in Russia and Turkey, that time is now.

“My way of going racing and my style I think is obviously calculated, but it involves choosing my moments and choosing when to be conservative and when to take risks,” he said. “It's something that you develop I think with experience and with skill. It's something that I think you progress a lot with when you are in F1.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari, third position, celebrates with his team in parc ferme

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“When you arrive to F1, you're always trying to take risk, trying to shine, and trying to prove yourself.

“But when you are a bit more established, and when you manage to gain a bit of stability in F1, it changes. I suddenly realised that when I signed my first two-year deal with McLaren that you could take more risks without being too affected with the outcome.

“If you put a foot wrong tomorrow and you crash in this race, your contract is not ending at the end of the year. You still have another year and a half to recover from this crash if you're really bad!

"In the Red Bull junior team you cannot put a foot wrong. But it is a good school. It trains you well" Carlos Sainz Jr

“I feel like this stability that I've got has given me the opportunity that if I want to risk one race, I'm really going to risk it, and I'm really going to try and make the best out of it. If I crash, I crash, because I do not fear like when you are in one-year contracts and not knowing where you career is going to go.

“In the Red Bull junior team you cannot put a foot wrong there, otherwise you might be out one day to the other.

“But it is a good school. It trains you well for F1.”

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images