Who has been fired from Ferrari after difficult 2022 F1 season? Carlos Sainz delivers surprising answer

Carlos Sainz claims Ferrari has not fired any of its members despite having suffered woeful strategic errors throughout the 2022 F1 season. The Italian team has come under considerable scrutiny for its poor strategic calls this year, possibly costing the team the title.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc's power unit have failed multiple times throughout the 2022 season. Despite their reliability and management issues, Sainz claims the Maranello-based team has not fired any of its members this year and the team has remained united in the direst of times.

Leclerc was the early championship favorite after his team gave him a car that could challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen on more than one occasion. The Monegasque driver's title hopes, however, soon vanished after the team suffered from reliability and strategic issues at the midpoint of the season.

Carlos Sainz said of Ferrari's team spirit:

"No one has been fired and we have remained united in the most difficult moments and that shows the progress of our culture. It has always been exposed to criticism and there was a lot of attention for all our mistakes. When we win, it's incredible; it's the most beautiful win in the world to win for Ferrari. To get through such a difficult season as we have with so few problems in the team is something to appreciate."

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Ferrari isn't too concerned by Mercedes' return to form

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto claims his team is not too concerned by the Silver Arrows' return to form in recent races. The Italian boss claims his team's dropping gap to the German team is due to the continued development of their challenger as opposed to the Scuderia's focus on the 2023 F1 season.

Binotto claims Ferrari's focus has almost entirely shifted to the 2023 F1 season, where they will try and challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull once again. In doing so, Mercedes have found themselves only 40-points behind the Maranello-based team after the 2022 F1 Mexican GP.

The Italian boss said:

"Mercedes [are] coming back, as they have developed the car [more] than we did. We know ourselves that we stopped quite early [with] the development of the car, focusing on 2023. So somehow, I'm not too concerned by the rate of development, because I know when we stopped developing [our own car]."

Being a high-downforce and twisty track, the Scuderia's 2022 challenger is pipped to be the favorite at Interlagos this weekend. With Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the form of their lives, however, it is still unclear if anyone can dethrone the Flying Dutchman for the remainder of the season.