F1 | Carlos Sainz found comments about his Ferrari move 'a bit annoying'
Carlos Sainz has revealed to the media that he found suggestions last year that he might regret joining Ferrari in 2021 “a bit annoying”.
Ever since Carlos Sainz was announced last May as Sebastian Vettel’s replacement at Scuderia Ferrari, the Spaniard has been facing constant comments from people questioning his decision to leave McLaren. Now, following recent revelations to motorsport.com, it has become clear that Sainz found suggestions he might regret joining Ferrari in 2021 “a bit annoying”.
As a result of McLaren climbing all the way back to third in the 2020 F1 Constructors’ Championship in comparison with Scuderia Ferrari amassing a lowly sixth, many people questioned Sainz’ decision to join the Prancing Horse.
“Certainly it was a bit annoying, because everyone was kind of implying that Ferrari was going to also be as bad in 2021, and you never know in Formula 1,” Sainz told Motorsport.com.
“[Ferrari] of course took a step backwards in 2020, and they were the first ones to admit it, and to be very self-critical. But people were just convinced that 2021 was also going to be a struggle…I think that with having a two-year deal with Ferrari and 2022 being a huge change in regulation, 2021 is a lot less important than what people are thinking.”
“Even if Ferrari turns its form around and 2021 is great, you never know. People were already implying that 2020 was terrible and going into 2021 is going to be as terrible…[It was] annoying at the time, but I kept my head cool. I never said something or anything that I regret. I guess [I’m] happy for that.”
2021 was not all doom and gloom on the track for the team from Maranello.
The SF1000 achieved three podiums for Scuderia Ferrari and had a strong conclusion to the season with consistency – despite its final fishing place of 6th in the table. As such, this run of results has encouraged Carlos Sainz for the challenges ahead.
“[It looks] good, without having had been able to drive the car, and knowing what they’ve actually changed or anything like that,” Sainz said. “It just looks a bit better for them, and I’m happy to see that they’re moving forward…I’ve always said that if there’s a team that is able to turn things around quickly in Formula 1, for me that is Ferrari. Of course Mercedes [can], but Ferrari more than anyone due to its history and the people and the resources they have. I’m happy to see that starting to happen.”
Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has indicated to f1.com what the team is planning for Carlos Sainz to be able to get some track time in red.
“Obviously we are planning to organise something for Carlos, to make sure he can speed up somehow his integration with the team, with the engineers, with the car, with our way of working, our procedures,” explained Binotto. “Simulator will be important in that respect… but yes, we are currently trying to organise January time eventually, to run with an old car, just to make sure again he gets used to the team and our procedures and know the people.”
For Carlos Sainz to acknowledge that he found comments last year ‘a bit annoying’ differs to the way he responded last year to the same media outlet, motorsport.com.
"Honestly, they can laugh as much as they want...I think they are actually pretty funny, some of [the jokes]. People have a lot of free time and they come up with these very funny ideas. And I actually laugh also. When the jokes are about me or the jokes are about the drivers, I'm the first one to laugh and I actually enjoy them. It doesn't mean that they are right or wrong, it's just they're funny. I guess that's what they pretend to be, so good on them."
As such, the latest remarks show that although Carlos Sainz is aware of just how many struggles may await him in 2021 – he has seen enough signs of change and expects it to all come good in 2022.
Only then may we know just how much of a great decision his move to Scuderia Ferrari was. Meanwhile, you can almost guarantee that the Woking-based outfit of McLaren will also be making great strides in development. Who knows, maybe the bromance of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz will be together on track racing albeit as rivals at the top end of the grid – we should certainly hope so.
In other news, is there any hope left for a Chinese Grand Prix in 2021?
