Sainz has regrets after another "wasted opportunity" for Ferrari
F1 News
Carlos Sainz is left rueing wasted chances for Ferrari after a worse-than-expected result in Azerbaijan and Singapore. The Spanish driver crashed while fighting for the podium positions in Baku and then lost control of his Ferrari car in Q3 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
In 2023, Red Bull won 21 out of 22 Grands Prix. Sainz was the driver to end that streak of wins at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, holding off McLaren and Mercedes in the final few laps of the race. In 2024, Ferrari looked strong during Friday practice in Singapore by competing with Norris' best times. The Italian team was leapfrogged overnight by Max Verstappen, which created frustration for Charles Leclerc.
Both drivers had a mistake-ridden Q3 session, which forced Sainz to start from P10 and Leclerc from P9. Ferrari selected a good strategy, combined with a good race pace, and moved through the field. Sainz only managed to get to P7, but Leclerc almost beat George Russell to fourth. Still, Sainz is left with regrets for Ferrari.
How Sainz reacted to the Singapore Grand Prix
"I think in general the last couple of races have been a bit of a wasted opportunity and I'm not happy with how things have gone on these last two weekends," Sainz said in Singapore.
Still, he remains optimistic. "At the same time, you never know what there is around the corner, and we might be surprised with how we can perform in Austin, Mexico, Vegas and these tracks. So I'm going to keep myself optimistic. Six races left in this long year, but I'm going to work on my weaknesses and put myself in a better position for the last six races," Sainz said.
He has just six races left at Ferrari. He will move to Williams after being ousted for Lewis Hamilton's arrival at the Italian team in 2025. F1 is now on a break, but Sainz knows what he wants to improve on going into those final six events.
"Just try and feel a bit more confident going into Turn 1 and qualifying, because clearly, these last few weekends haven't been the best approach. I'm hopeful that we can qualify a bit further up, like we were doing at the beginning of the year, and that makes the whole weekend a lot easier," he added.