La 33, by Carlos Sainz and the ‘stop inventing’

“I don’t know what to say. It’s unbelievable. My first F1 win 150 races later, with Ferrari, at Silverstone… You can’t ask for more. It was a very special day that I will never forget and a very special weekend in general. Thank you all for the support, for the cheers. Lewis was there, but we stopped him and I’m very happy. This is what he said more than a year ago, on July 3, 2022, a Carlos Sainz completely absent from it. Finally, he had accomplished one of his life’s great goals: to win a Formula 1 race.

It was at Silverstone, at the 2022 F1 British GP, a day that marked the before and after life of the man from Madrid and entered the history of F1 for two reasons. First of all, to see a Spaniard again at the top of the F1 podium 9 years after the last victory of Fernando Alonso, who achieved Spain’s 33rd victory in Formula 1. And of course, for a phrase that will remain forever in the memory of the fans of the ‘Great Circus’ and that was very important for Sainz to achieve that success: that of the famous ‘Stop inventing’.

Sainz had won an F1 Grand Prix earlier ‘Checo’ Pérez and Lewis Hamilton on a day where one of the great favourites, Max Verstappen, suffered problems with his car.

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Pole and win in Great Britain

The race won Carlos Sainz arrived a day after the Madrid native also won the first pole of his career. It was a round weekend for Carlos, who continued to grow on the year with two more pole positions, a dramatic boost in his confidence in a 2022 kick against his starting drive and three more podiums by the end of the course . He won’t get any more success so far, but there’s no need to dwell on that data and move on: He didn’t have a chance to win because shortly after Red Bull took a big step forward that has made him dominate until now.

A career full of lessons and examples to follow

What happened at Silverstone 2022 is an example for many. A career full of lessons. The first is that you don’t have to give up and you have to fight to the end. An example of this is how much Carlos Sainz pushed when he seemed to have lost everything with the sole purpose of not letting himself down in case something happened. And it happened.

“I had balance problems, especially in the first stint on medium tires. Max pushed me in those high-speed corners,” said Carlos About a mistake he made at the start by going too long under pressure from a Verstappen who eventually bid farewell to victory due to a setback in his car. So, he continued to persevere, believing that it was still possible no matter how difficult it was: “I pushed my best and stayed in the race”, he said briefly when he saw Leclerc running away. “Then the safety car came out and gave me a second chance and we did it. You can imagine the nerves at that start after the ‘Safety Car’, doing it and getting the victory”, he finished that day before the track foot questions from Button as the new F1 winner.

The second lesson left by that race is that with talent, work and perseverance, everything comes. Carlos suffered but did not sink and fought hard in a difficult start to the season to adapt to a car in which he was not comfortable while his teammate was fighting every weekend for pole positions and wins.

Far from sinking, Carlos chose to keep a cool head and work, work and work with the sole purpose of speaking on the track, without reacting to the fact that part of the Italian press saw Leclerc as a leader and accused Carlos of departure his victory for Charles for his refusal to follow the strategy given to him by Ferrari at the wall in Monaco. Monaco 2022 was a great display of character and race that made it clear, once again, that Sainz reads the races from the car better than Charles and manages to choose better strategic solutions while driving, another important point for an F1 driver, a job in which not everyone drives fast.

At that time, in Monaco, Carlos missed the victory because of a turn. Without him the most important thing for Italy is that they will also consider him. At Silverstone, those who criticized him for lack of character or murderous instincts had to change their language, despite the fact that unfortunately, some went back to singing it this time. That day, “Sainz was in place, ready to finish after the appearance of the ‘Safety Car’, and he put it in the squad”, as the Mundo Deportivo chronicle of July 3, 2022 (July 4 in the print edition) recited.

stop inventing

Three quarters of the race passed and all seemed lost for Sainz. It seemed almost impossible for him to take the win after letting Charles Leclerc pass because his team-mate had more pace. But Sainz, who had his fingers crossed while fighting not to drop out of the race, had what he hoped for: A problem with Esteban Ocon’s car led to a ‘Safety Car’ on lap 39.

A controversial approach came from Ferrari. They decided to stop Sainz in order to defend Hamilton to face the final turns of the race with the new rubber. Leclerc, who was leading, was not put in the pits so as not to lose the first position. Charles has hard rubber with 15 turns of use. Sainz and Hamilton, new rubber in the attack. Carlos was then asked over the radio to leave “10 car distance” between himself and Charles to give the Monegasque an advantage against a burning Hamilton. That’s when Carlos stopped his team’s feet and delivered his biggest blow to the table: “Stop inventing! (stop inventing)”, he exclaimed on the radio. Carlos knows that if he listens, Hamilton will pass him and then he will go to Leclerc.

Carlos got everyone’s attention. “He will be faster than Charles,” he commented on the danger Hamilton could be for Ferrari’s victory. Sainz made it clear that he had to attack his teammate no matter how much the team told him to stay away. And he went to it. Sainz stuck to Leclerc, passed him and the battle between Charles, Hamilton and Pérez gave more wings to the Spaniard, who would not relinquish the lead. He achieved his first F1 win. Now, a year later, he’s chasing the second. It won’t be easy. The most important thing has changed: Ferrari no longer has a dominant car and Red Bull is stronger than before.