Sports

Carlos Sainz hopes more surprises, podiums in store for Ferrari this year

Madrid, Sep 20 (EFE).- Spanish Formula One driver Carlos Sainz on Monday said he hoped there were more surprises in store in his first season at Ferrari, such as another podium finish.

The 27-year-old madrileño has come close to winning twice this year, finishing second at Monaco and third in Hungary.

“I would like there to be another surprise in terms of fighting for a podium based on merit as we did in Monaco and in Silverstone,” he told a press conference in Madrid.

There are eight Grand Prix left in the season, the next taking place over the weekend of September 24-26 in Russia.

Ferrari is not necessarily favorite in the remaining races, he added.

Sainz acknowledged that he had made some driving errors this season as he was getting used to the Ferrari following two seasons at McLaren.

He said he was nonetheless happy with the year, his best moment coming at Monaco when he finished in P2, an accomplishment marred by the fact he was unable to make pole after his teammate Charles Leclerc crashed during qualifying, bringing a red flag to the session before it was completed.

“I look back and I’m proud to have got my first podium with Ferrari, coming second. But because I was unable to start in pole, I didn’t quite get to enjoy the moment. I think the best is yet to come.”

His former team McLaren won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last week with a podium 1-2 headed by Daniel Ricciardo and teammate Lando Norris.

“When we fought for pole in Monaco in the Ferrari, nobody told me ‘you did so well to go to Ferrari, now that you’re challenging for pole.’ But later McLaren won a race, and did so deservedly, and everyone tells you that you would have won if you stayed at McLaren.”

“I’m in the best year of my sporting career, time will tell if I’ve made a mistake, but I have a lot of faith in Ferrari’s long-term project, not winning at Monza, but winning in the coming years, and we’re working hard for that.”

Commenting on the title race this year between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Sainz described it as a “great story, very appealing to fans and the press.”

He also cast his thoughts to one of his Ferrari predecessors Michael Schumacher having just watched the new Netflix documentary about the life of the German driver who was severely injured in a skiing accident in 2013.

“Personally, I would have loved 10 episodes of two hours because I’m a fan of Michael, I would have liked to see the story of every year or every race in a bit more detail,” he said.EFE

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