What is more painful for Carlos Sainz than Ferrari sitting fourth in the championship? 

Carlos Sainz feels that Ferrari being 4th in the championship is not as painful as realizing that the gap against Red Bull is just too big. The 2023 F1 season was supposed to be an upgrade for the Italian squad, where it would learn from the mistakes of last season and make strides towards the front of the grid.

That hasn't really happened, as Red Bull appears to have already checked out at the front of the grid with a race pace that is close to a second a lap quicker than Ferrari. Admitting that the Italian team did not expect the gap to be this big, Carlos Sainz revealed that what hurt more was not that the team was 4th in the championship at the moment, but the gap to Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz told The Race:

“It’s been tougher than any other year. Expectations were…I felt like 2022 was a bit of a comeback finally to the top for Ferrari. And I feel like we all expected to at least be fighting at a similar level. Not only me, but the whole team had this hope, this expectation. And suddenly finding yourself more than half a second adrift from the Red Bull was tough to handle."

He added:

“You suddenly need to reset, need to go back to the drawing board, and make sure you keep everyone motivated. The amount of work that is going on right now in Maranello with the development plan is huge."

Sainz concluded:

"Trying to get the whole factory aligned and motivated on the next step is the most challenging. It doesn’t hurt me so much being fourth in constructors’ or fifth or sixth in Drivers’. It hurts me more the gap to Red Bull."

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Carlos Sainz himself has not had a good start to the season

F1 Grand Prix of Miami

Carlos Sainz himself has not had the best of starts to the 2023 F1 season. The Ferrari driver has been somewhat outperformed by Charles Leclerc once again (whenever he's not crashing the car).

As a result, the Spaniard has even admitted that he's not fully comfortable with the car. His best drives have been the ones in Miami and Australia, where he was able to pace himself impressively.

At the same time, though, in races where Charles Leclerc has not tipped things over the line, Sainz has been considerably slower than his teammate. The driver will be hoping for a return to form and a better showing in the coming double header in Monaco and Spain.