"We could not put on a stronger fight" - Carlos Sainz disappointed with Ferrari's performance despite securing podium at 2022 F1 Belgian GP

Despite starting the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix from pole position, Carlos Sainz was only able to secure a disappointing third-place finish this weekend at Spa. The Spaniard had an impressive race start but simply did not have the pace to fight off the Red Bulls, who returned for the second half of the season in even better form than they were before the summer break.

In a post-race media interaction, Carlos Sainz confessed that he was not the happiest with the race result, given Ferrari's significant pace deficit to Red Bull. He said:

“Unfortunately, it was harder than expected. We got a good start and a good restart after the safety car, but the pace was just not there. We had a lot of overheating on the tyres, we were sliding around a lot and for some reason our package wasn't quite there this weekend. But, in the end, we finished on the podium and we will take it.”

He continued:

“First two laps were strong but then we immediately went into high degradation and then I realized that we were degrading more than we should. Unfortunately, we could not put on a stronger fight and we had to survive but we have to learn why on this track we were not so competitive.”

Championship leader Max Verstappen, who started the race all the way back in P13 after taking on an engine penalty, absolutely dominated the race and made it to the front of the pack within the first twelve laps and managed to secure his ninth race win of the season this afternoon.

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Carlos Sainz empathizes with Daniel Ricciardo, who is leaving McLaren a year early

McLaren confirmed rumors earlier this weekend that Daniel Ricciardo's contract with the team will be cut short at the end of this season. The Aussie admitted that things simply did not click with the team the way they should have by this time. Former McLaren driver Carlos Sainz confessed that this could "happen to anyone" in F1.

As reported by PlanetF1, Carlos Sainz said:

“Yes, I can understand because even my first half of the season, the first three or four races I felt ordinary in the Ferrari and I know how fast I am. And it was like ‘ah, that didn’t give me the right feeling’, and I struggled a lot, and then I managed to improve later in the season and get to a good level. I don’t know how the McLaren is nowadays because it’s passed two years already and I don’t know how much that car has changed. But in F1, it’s like that.”

Sainz further said:

“There are cars that adapt well to your style, others that don’t. All drivers have better cars suited to them than others, even the best ones like Lewis and Max. At the beginning of the season, they didn’t seem to go 100% with their own cars, you know, so it’s normal. It’s part of our lives. We always have better cars than others and cars that come more natural than others. And it happened to me this year, it happened to Daniel at McLaren. It can happen to anyone.”

Carlos Sainz had a tough start to his time at Ferrari earlier last year but quickly picked up and closed the gap to his teammate Charles Leclerc, whom the Spaniard managed to beat by the end of the season in the Driver Standings. Despite Leclerc's brilliant start to the 2022 season, a mere fifteen points separate the two teammates after the 2022 Belgian GP.