F1 pundit alleges Carlos Sainz is under pressure at Ferrari 

F1 Grand Prix of Canada
Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari waves to the crowd on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Canada

F1 pundit Fred Ferret believes that Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is under pressure after an inconsistent showing at the recently concluded Canadian GP.

The Spanish driver started the race from P11 after he was given a five-place grid drop for his infringements during the rainy qualifying session. Throughout the weekend, Sainz found himself blocking other drivers and faced the ire of drivers like Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.

He eventually finished the race in P5 behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. While appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, Ferret said about Carlos Sainz:

"Carlos is struggling because of the pressure he is feeling. He had an accident, he had an impeding in FP3 and then he says, 'Ok, I have a good car I made a mistake. I'm not driving well because I don't see someone,'."

He added:

"You could see yesterday that there was Tsunoda going and there is Pierre coming. Just like: Do I turn right or left to exit the motorway, that's exactly the same for Carlos."

Carlos Sainz analyzes Canadian GP weekend after his P5 finish

The Spaniard stated that he was impressed by the strong car performance and low tire degradation on the SF-23 on Sunday.

As per F1.com, Carlos Sainz said:

“I think we had a very strong pace today. We showed that in a different track like Canada, to Barcelona, we are stronger, that the car is working well in the low-speed corners, we had also better deg [tire degradation]. So yeah, a bit of progress, a bit of an encouraging day for the whole team."

He added:

“I felt really good on that [medium starting] tire. I was very quick, it felt like I could manage it with no problem. I think we did some good progress, but I also think it’s down to circuit characteristics and we need to see how Austria plays out with going back to higher speed corners.”

He also spoke about the team orders during the middle of the race, adding:

"No, I totally expected it, also because we were both trying to extend. Obviously, I felt very strong with the medium, that’s why I kept getting DRS and I could kind of feel like I had a very good pace, but I think the right thing was always to extend that stint, go long and overcut the field to then go and finish P4 and P5.”

It will be interesting to see if Carlos Sainz can bounce back in the coming races and get back to his consistent self.

Quick Links

App download animated image Get the free App now