Carlos Sainz is more eager than ever for the 2023 F1 season to begin. He feels more ready than ever to seize the opportunity in front of him and make the most of it. “You can imagine how excited I am about what’s to come,” said the Spanish driver at the presentation of the new Ferrari SF23 he will drive this year in the F1 World Championship. The Spanish driver suffered at the beginning of 2022 to adapt to last year’s regulation car, but he finished the season on par with Leclerc, performing at a high level. That, along with the work done this winter to improve the points where he knows he needs to improve for this season, assure him that he is “more prepared and confident”. “I’m ready,” said the Spaniard, making it clear that his aim is nothing more than to win the crown.
“When you drive for Ferrari the goal should be to fight for the title and try to win. That’s the only goal, not just mine, but the whole team. But looking at the short term it’s clear that if you want to be world champion you have to be the best driver and you have to be the best team. And we focus on this short term, what I can do and what the team can do to be the best team and the best driver on the grid”, pointed out the man from Madrid.
“I had things very clear when the winter started, I thought about it, I worked on it and I will try to make it happen this year. I feel that I am clearly more confident than last year, more capable, more prepared and now I know what it’s like to fight at the front and what I have to do. I’m ready. But everyone will say the same thing, in February everyone is a champion and everyone is ready. The important thing is later, when the season starts you have to be loyal and fair to your ambitions and your goals”, he commented on the work done during the winter.
“I am optimistic and I am hopeful at this time of the year. The car is an evolution compared to last year. I think last year I finished very close to the limit of the car and I performed at a good level, so I hope to continue where I left off and make steps in the right direction and I also hope that the car suits me and my driving a little more. better adapt to it and enjoy a strong car at the start of the course. That’s the goal,” Carlos added, taking advantage of the question from MD about whether he worked with Ferrari to make the 2023 car more suitable to his taste to categorically deny some rumors that Ferrari chose to develop the car last year.in a direction that would allow Sanz to feel more comfortable.
“Last year, some people said that the car was going in my direction, but it was not true. I can say this today and tomorrow. An F1 car is not built for one driver or another. An F1 car is built to be faster,” he told MD.
My job as a driver is to give indications to the engineers where the car is fast and that is checked against the data, I give my feedback, Charles (Leclerc) gives his feedback, it is confirmed in data, it is executed and the vehicle is faster. I wish the car was faster. We tried it again this year. All that matters to me is that the car is fast. The rest… obviously I had some difficult moments last year, with a car suited to a very specific driving style and I adapted. It was a little late for my liking, but I agreed. And the goal this year is to start better and adapt to any type of car”, he concluded in this regard.
Confidence before the course
“I feel confident. I finished last year with very clear things about where I want to improve and where I need to step up. I worked hard going into the season prepared and becoming a better driver. Last year was not an easy season but I won a race, I had many podiums, pole positions… and I know that earlier this year I find a good window of comfort in the car… I know I can do great things. So you can imagine how excited I am for what’s to come this year.”
His first lap at Fiorano, in presentation
“I think it’s really amazing that Ferrari gave us this award and put together such a day. F1 needs this kind of event now, these presentations, with the media, the fans, the partners, the mechanics and the project engineers… everyone is united in enjoying and seeing the car running in the show. We were brave in doing this because today is the very first lap to install the car. I hope you’re satisfied, because I sure am.”
“First of all, the positive today is that everything went perfectly and nothing went wrong. It is quite a high risk to start an F1 car on the track for the first time in front of so many people and there are no problems. Normally in the facility laps, laps like this you can have some problem and today the car went well and I was able to feel the first things to give the first feedback to the engineers to be comfortable tomorrow (this Wednesday they do the shakedown before the tests). Tomorrow we will continue the build-up for Bahrain (for the trials)”.
Kilometers in the winter simulator
“I did about 4 or 5 simulator sessions, about 100 laps each. The preparation went well. Not only in the simulator. We also had a lot of meetings. I live in Maranello since the second week of January. November and December seems long for me because the season ended a little bit and that’s why I started earlier than any year with the engineers here in Maranello. We are very clear in our minds where we want to make steps forward and where what to focus on.”
Vasseur incorporation
“It’s good. It’s not even two months since he arrived, but you can imagine, knowing more than 1,000 people, how they work… it’s hard to understand the influence. But he’s starting to feel things. I’m sure that it will give us things to improve and change to go in the best direction”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
