"He wanted to dare" - Carlos Sainz's strategy move sent Ferrari 'on a tilt' at 2022 Monaco GP, says F1 journo

Italian F1 journalist Giorgio Terruzzi has blamed Carlos Sainz for Ferrari’s strategic blunders at the 2022 F1 Monaco GP. He claimed that the Spaniard’s refusal to go with the Scuderia’s original strategy sent the latter into a “tilt”.

Terruzzi believes that Sainz’s strategic calls within the cockpit benefitted neither the team nor himself as Sergio Perez overcut both Ferraris to take his third career victory. In a column for Corriere della Sera, he wrote:

“His move sent everyone on a tilt where tactics are decided, without even bringing home the consolation of seeing the second Ferrari driver on the top step of the podium.”

Ferrari could have achieved their second 1-2 finish at the Monaco GP if not for their strategic mistakes during the tricky wet-to-dry crossover period. Unlike Red Bull, the Scuderia failed to make deliberate and timely calls.

During the initial switch to intermediates, the Scuderia had a short window during which they could have pitted both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz for fresh tires to protect against both Red Bulls overcutting them.

Ferrari, however, waited a lot longer to bring Leclerc in while, Sainz — seeing the drying conditions — chose to go directly for dry tires, skipping the inters entirely.

This led to Perez overcutting Leclerc for the lead, while Sainz still had the opportunity to win. On his out-lap after pitting for dry tires, however, he encountered traffic which severely hampered his progress, allowing Perez to pit for dry tires himself and come out ahead of Sainz and in the lead.

Hence, contrary to Terruzzi’s claims, Sainz played no role in Ferrari’s strategic failures. The Spaniard could have easily taken his first career victory at Monaco had it not been for traffic from a slow Williams interfering with his out-lap.

While Terruzzi acknowledged Ferrari’s mistakes, he still attributes the blame squarely on Sainz’s shoulders. He added, saying:

“Carlos [Sainz] was not very useful to Ferrari. He finished P2. But behind [Sergio] Perez, not exactly a strategic masterpiece. And he was the one who decided the strategy. It was not only Sainz who made a mistake, mind you. The double command told to Charles [Leclerc] offered the measure of the distress at the Ferrari pit wall, that would have made a sloth lose its nerves.”

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Carlos Sainz “misread” his responsibilities within Ferrari

Giorgio Terruzzi has also claimed that Carlos Sainz misread his role within Ferrari during the Monaco GP when he started directing strategic decisions from within the cockpit.

Terruzzi felt that Sainz’s role was solely to “protect Leclerc” and help the Monegasque win the championship. In a column for Corriere della Sera, he wrote:

“The fact is that Carlos [Sainz] was not racing to win but to protect [Charles] Leclerc. He smelled the opportunity he has always been waiting for, he wanted to dare, he thought he should have won. Therefore, it was a misinterpretation of the driver. Not so much on the tyres but on his role within Ferrari, in a season that is entirely on Leclerc’s shoulders.”

Ferrari have always maintained that both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are on equal terms within the team and have so far not favored either driver over the other.

The Scuderia has even ensured that both drivers get similar machinery across all weekends – even going so far as to not use an upgraded part when there was only one instance of it available – to ensure fair opportunity between them.