Carlos Sainz responds to common rumor with Ferrari at Monza: “That’s a legend”

F1 has arrived monza, Italy, Home of the Ferrari teamthe event marked by the red team every year on its calendar. There they race with hundreds of thousands of people wearing red and cheering on their drivers. No matter how the year goes for the local team, every year, ‘tifosi’ flock to so-called ‘temple of speed’ to support their men and remind F1 of Ferrari’s greatnessa team that is in Italy is at the level of the national soccer team.

Therefore, Ferrari always come to Monza with the intention of winning. No matter how big they are, thanks to their engine power and straight-line speed, they always want to be the enemy. And more in years where things don’t go as expected, like this 2024, where the picture of ‘Prancing Horse’ is a step behind McLaren, Verstappen’s Red Bull and Mercedes with an unexpected car capable of shining in unexpected moments, as happened last week in the Zandvoort Sunday race after a poor performance in ‘qualifying’.

Far from fighting for championships of drivers and constructors, the Monza track is a big chance to save the year for the red ones because of the importance of a victory here. And for this reason, in the paddock, a week ago, they repeated again and again that Ferrari will fire up all its ships and put its engines at full throttle, more than in any other race, to the maximum of its benefits regardless of whether it means reducing its natural life and the number of races that will use it. Even at the risk of engine failure. All or nothing. Champagne or care. All, to try to give joy to their fans at home and take the front pages of the country’s newspapers for at least one weekend.

However, when MD asked Carlos Sainz about it, with a half smile, he denied that it was true.

“The engine thing is a legend. We never put more engine in Monza. What happens is that Ferrari tends to make a more efficient car for Monza, which is probably something we are good at. That seems to make the engine go faster, but it due to the special wings Monza carries”he pointed out, emphasizing the adjustment that must be made to this track, with minimal aerodynamic load to reduce air resistance in the long directions of Monza, which make up 80% of the track.

Ferrari has not won at Monza since Leclerc did it in 2019a year in which the Monegasque won only two races, the fastest ones, such as Spa and Monza on a course clearly dominated by Mercedes. ‘Principino’ is 2nd in 2022 after taking pole and last year Carlos Sainz gave the red team a second consecutive pole in Italy during the massive dominance of Verstappen and Red Bull, with a far superior car.

In last year’s race, Carlos tried everything to defend himself against the Red Bulls, but he couldn’t handle a car that was sinking too much in the race due to its greater wear and tear. This time, Ferrari rectified that weakness and is expected to fight for victory against the McLarens and Verstappen due to the uniqueness of this track. Perhaps it is an oasis in the desert. But it’s a big breath of air for the transalpine, which will also have a chance to win in Singapore because of how well the car works on an urban and mousey track, as Leclerc could make clear by winning in Monaco or Carlos himself last year, succeeded on the same track.

For now, Carlos Sainz prefers not to talk about victories but about Ferrari’s good chance of achieving a podium at home.

“The podium will not be different. So we have to be optimistic. Yesterday we were probably a bit pessimistic and negative (after the qualification). What is clear is that we must review the weekend after Sunday. As we do so many interviews, you ask us for a review of the weekend after qualifying and it’s clear that while it’s hot in Zandvoort, we’re all depressed thinking it’s the end of the year, one second away from pole, an absolute disaster. And after the race, it seems that Ferrari is incredible in the race and we will be able to win in Monza. Neither one nor the other. You have to find a middle balance between one and the other, and I think the only certainty is that the McLaren is superior. The rest of the teams, we have to see how we can close the distance to McLaren and see if we can fight for the podium in Monza,” he pointed out, giving favoritism to the orange cars, who aspire to everything on all kinds of tracks.

Some improvements for Monza

Carlos Sainz In recent races, he insisted on the need for the Maranello factory to produce new parts and bring them to the track to try to reduce “3 or 4 tenths” that separates him from the current championship dominators. And at Monza, the Spaniard himself announced to the MD that there should be new developments, but there will not be a big package of evolutions.

“If there are improvements, which I hope they will, it still gives us a step forward, but honestly, the improvements we bring are small”he argued with this newspaper. With them and the good performance that Ferrari always has on the long straight ‘temple of speed’, Carlos Sainz hopes to say goodbye to the ‘tifosi’ as he deserves, even on the podium. It was his last race in Italy wearing red before the arrival of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos’ departure from Williams.