Carlos Sainz details Ferrari aim behind the scenes that will worry Mercedes and Red Bull

Carlos Sainz: Expert discusses decision by Ferrari

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Carlos Sainz has outlined Ferrari’s ambitions to seriously challenge Mercedes and Red Bull in the 2022 season. The last campaign was dominated by the two leading teams, or more specifically Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – who between them won 18 of the 22 Grands Prix on offer.

The pair were both more than 160 points ahead of the third-placed finisher, Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen’s partner Sergio Perez fourth.

Spaniard Sainz meanwhile, was the highest finisher outside of Toto Wolff and Christian Horner’s teams, ending up fifth with 164.5 points to his name – after notching four podium finishes.

Fellow Scuderia driver Charles Leclerc was just 5.5 points further back in seventh, with McLaren’s Lando Norris sandwiched in-between.

The displays of Sainz also helped the Italian giants finish third in the Constructors’ race, winning back the place taken by McLaren in 2020.

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However, the new technical regulations that are coming into the sport this year, designed to make racing more competitive, threaten a shake-up of the order and, speaking to reporters at pre-season testing in Barcelona last week, Sainz didn’t hide his team’s ambitions.

And with an engine freeze in place until 2025, he suggested it was reliability, and not development, which was the Scuderia’s priority.

“I think the logical step if they are going to freeze engines is to try to find the performance limit and then you have five years to work on reliability,” he was quoted as saying by PlanetF1.

“I think that’s the way to go and that’s what we’ve done. We want to have a powerful engine, if not the most powerful or one of the most powerful in the coming years, and the team is working on it.”

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Sainz said in December that he felt the only thing stopping him from challenging Verstappen and Hamilton was the pace of their respective cars, and felt confident of being in contention this time around.

This campaign will represent the final years of Sainz’s current two-year deal with Ferrari, who he joined from McLaren at the end of 2020. He previously drove for Renault and Toro Rosso.

However, he insisted that negotiations over a new deal are underway, and underlined his commitment to the team’s long-term vision.

“The renewal is on track,” he added.

“I said it last year and I repeat it again, that I trust the project 100% and I think Ferrari trusts me too, so it did not depend on testing the car or not because I trust [it].

“And the fact that we have reached the test does not mean anything, but that it is being negotiated and is moving forward.”

Despite positive results in Barcelona this week, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has admitted he expects Mercedes to be “two or three months ahead” when the season gets underway in Bahrain.

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