csainznews

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🇯🇵 Carlos Sainz, Suzuka Grand Prix 2023, Sat. 23/09/23 [Post Quali interview - DAZN ES]

Carlos about the car:

"Yes, of course, a little bit back to reality after two very good weekends here we are a little bit where we were before Monza, there in the fight with Mercedes and McLaren a little bit ahead. But well, it has been a complicated weekend, I've been playing a lot with the set up, trying to find things, making mistakes, going backwards and, nothing, in the end I didn't manage to find the best set up for here, for Suzuka; and on top of that, Quali's lap was no big deal either. So sixth, but I think that's more or less where the car is, between fourth and sixth today, and there wasn't much else. The McLarens seem to be a step ahead."

Carlos about the strategy for tomorrow:

"Well, it's clear that McLaren are better than us on high-load circuits with a lot of fast corners. Sector 1, both Red Bull and McLaren are a step ahead, in race pace we have to see tomorrow. We're all pretty evenly matched but let's make it a race to try and hang on, more or less, where we're going out because the McLarens are a little bit quicker, Checo is obviously a lot quicker in the race and then it's going to be a tough race with the Mercedes."

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🇧🇪 Carlos damage after the touch with Oscar Piastri on lap 1 - [30.07.23]

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🇧🇪 Carlos and Lewis before the Drivers Parade - Spa-Francorchamps [30.07.23]

Source

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🇧🇪Carlos honking at Charles at the Driver's Parade - Spa-Francorchamps [30.07.23]

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🇧🇪Carlos during the Driver's Parade - Spa-Francorchamps [30.07.23]

📸: Dan Mullan | Peter Fox | Francois Nel

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🇧🇪 Carlos Sainz & Max Verstappen - after Sprint Quali [Spa, 29.07.23]

Source

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🇧🇪Carlos interview after the Sprint Quali for Sky Sports F1:

SS: This mix conditions are keeping you busy this weekend, P3 at the end of that session, how are you feeling?

CS: "Yeah very good. Today I did manage to put a good lap together and show a bit of my true pace and potential after a couple of mistakes yesterday and, yeah, happy to be P3. Obviously not happy with the distance to pole because it's so tight that I could have been pole but at the same time I think I did the lap quite early compare to the guys coming behind it must have been a good lap"

SS: And how is the car feeling in general this weekend? You know, across this variety of conditions.

CS: "It's feeling good, specially when it's proper interns I'm very quick, I'm normally P1 when it's very wet for intern. And then on the dry we don't look too bad. Red Bull looks a clear step ahead, but behind them we look competitive."

SS: And what about the Sprint coming up later today? What are your expectations?

CS: "Expectations are to try and get a podium in the Sprint Race. I need to see the grid, where's Checo starting, the Mercedes, because they will be our main competitors."

Source

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🇭🇺 Carlos gave an interview to the Spanish media "Mundo Deportivo" about what his future holds and how he feels:

[Thu 20, July, 2023]

MD: We send you our condolences on behalf of Mundo Deportivo for the death of your grandfather. How are you feeling?

CS: "Thank you very much. I am well. I was lucky enough to be able to make the most of him until he was 97 years old, in fact he died just the day after his 97th birthday. On the other hand, I am calm because I know that I have taken advantage of all the time I have been able to spend with him and that is the message I have wanted to send on social media to the younger kids, that they should take advantage of the time with their grandparents and spend time with their older relatives because it is a law of life that one day they will not be around and then you can always regret not having spent more time with them."

MD: Is there anything that has inspired you from your grandfather to face your day-to-day life as a pilot?

CS: "Not as a pilot, but as a person he certainly inspired me. He was a person who didn't have it easy from an early age. He was left without a father at the age of 14, he had to take care of his whole family by himself and he was a successful man, above all, and he did whatever he wanted, without ever taking into account what others might think, something that I think in today's world with social media you are always a bit worried about what they will say and what they will think of me. He was always a person who followed his path and did what he wanted, with very good values, but always doing what he thought was right and moving forward."

MD: Do you think you can dedicate a victory to him this season?

CS: "Yes, if I win this year, I'll dedicate it to him, for sure. And if I don't, I'll dedicate a podium to him, which would be a good result."

MD: How are you facing the weekend in Hungary?

CS: "We've made a step forward, but behind Verstappen it's a very close battle. It depends a lot on the tracks and we have to be aware that there will be better and worse weekends. We hope to find good conditions here."

MD: What is your assessment of the start of the year?

CS: "You always have to put it in perspective. In terms of results, it was not great, with a lot of fourth, fifth and sixth places. I think we all expected a little bit more, including me. But if I look at the detail of how much I've got out of the car, I don't think I'm having a bad year. I think I'm driving well, I'm qualifying well, I'm having good races, good races, again, from less to more. Maybe the results don't quite reflect it, but it's been a bit of a strange year in that respect."

MD: Max Verstappen, who wins everything with Red Bull, would not win with the current Ferrari either.

CS: "Well, if Charles and I were driving the Red Bull and we didn't let him win like he doesn't let us, it would be like that. But I don't like to compare because you will never know. But it is very well known that nowadays in F1 the car is very important."

MD: The Maranello factory worked against the clock to deliver several evolution packages quickly, weeks ahead of schedule. What is it like to see that work from the inside?

CS: "It's a spectacular thing. To see a factory the size of Ferrari, with its ability to react, to work day and night to get parts out, to get things done, is one of the most beautiful and most special things you can see in F1. Especially when you spend days in the factory. I'm very involved, I see it and I have the opportunity to go and say hello to all the workers very often and thank them, because they are the ones who make the difference in the end."

MD: How many hours can you spend in the factory?

CS: "On average I spend one or two days a week at the factory. About 6 hours each of those days, more or less. That's on the weeks when I don't have a race, obviously. When you have a race you lower the intensity a bit in that respect. Or the week before the race I spend a day or a day and a half. I go to the simulator for half a day or three quarters of that day. I spend another half day in meetings with engineers and then another half day I go and say hello to some department, say hello to people that you might not have the chance to see if you don't go to the factory."

MD: How do you feel at Ferrari?

CS: "I honestly feel that I'm at the ideal time in my career to be a Ferrari driver, because I'm looking forward to it. It's an intense place to be, because you have a lot of things to take care of, you have a lot of responsibilities, you race for the Ferrari team, which I think says it all, and you have to have a lot of desire. You have to be 100% dedicated to F1 and to the team and I am in that moment between maturity and youth to take advantage of being at Ferrari."

MD: Every driver is a person… Do criticisms and rumours, which must always be experienced more intensely by Ferrari drivers, become exhausting?

CS: "They could be exhausting, but not for me. If you're not at 100% like I am, or you're at the beginning or end of your career, they could wear you down. I'm not going to deny it. But I'm so 100% and so happy to be at Ferrari that the noise doesn't exhaust me or affect me because I don't let it."

MD: If you are so happy at Ferrari and feels so loved, I must ask if you want to continue at Ferrari beyond the end of your current contract, which runs until the end of 2024.

CS: "My priority, of course, is to continue at Ferrari. I don't see any better place in F1 right now than a team like Ferrari, which has the ambition to win again. I want to win another race as soon as possible and, if possible, fight for a World Championship. And since we both share the same objective, if that team is Ferrari, then I don't see why I shouldn't continue. But I have said it many times: I always like to go into the last season of my contract knowing where I am going to race the following year and that will be my intention this year." He added, "It also depends on the contract (laughing)"

MD: What does it depend on?

CS: "To come to an agreement. It's like always in life. You both have to agree to shake hands and sign a contract, and if you don't agree on anything, you talk about it. You know that I will always do my part, everything I can to stay in a team like Ferrari."

MD: Are you calm and confident that an agreement will be reached?

CS: "I am not worried. I have set a date for myself, the winter of this year, to try to find out what is going to happen to me, but I will think about it more at the end of the season, what I would and wouldn't be worth to be here and what I can continue to offer Ferrari? I'm just very focused on the season. Now, also, in the middle of the season… maybe in the summer I think a little bit because you have a three-week break and you think about things. But now, between races, you don't have time to stop and think about it."

MD: Last year you said that the Ferrari car had to be driven very aggressively and it was difficult for you to adapt. How is it this year?

CS: "Honestly, the car is very similar to last year's car to drive. The driving style is exactly the same. I've just made the effort to adapt to it and drive it a bit better, and above all I've made the effort to learn the set-up and see what things with this car can help me to go faster. But above all, the biggest effort has been both driving and getting to know the car. It's true that this year's car, in relation to the others, is not so competitive, but in the end, it's a car that is very similar to last year's, or almost the same."

MD: Is the goal of being a champion with Ferrari still intact?

CS: "The goal of being champion with Ferrari is still intact, yes, and hopefully for a long time to come."

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🇭🇺Carlos crash + the amazing marshals getting him unstuck! [FP1, Fri, July 21st, 2023]

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🇭🇺 Carlos entering the paddock [Fri, July 21st, 2023]

📸: Kym Illman

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🇭🇺 Carlos about if he's feeling the pressure after the success of some Spanish athletes:

"For sure not, no, just proud. I'm just proud for my country and we've seem to have this relative small population for a country like Spain but we still seem to produce some good athletes out there. Since Rafa, Fernando, the basketball team is always good, football team is always good. I don't know, we seem to be doing well in sports, and now with golf, tennis also, again with Alcaraz, it's a good time to be Spanish and to follow sports because you have a lot of fun on the TV watching every Sunday someone win or someone doing well or someone to support and be excited about, and yeah, just proud of my country and the athletes we produce"

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🇭🇺 Carlos Sainz + Charles Leclerc, Hungarian Grand Prix 2023 [Thursday]

📸: James Moy

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🇭🇺 More Carlos entering the paddock!

📸: Michael Potts

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🇭🇺 Carlos arriving to the paddock for the Hungarian GP 🌶

📸: Dan Mullan

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Before Silverstone race, Carlos spoke to Spanish media and talked about how he was seeing this season with Ferrari.

🇬🇧 Carlos doing an interview with Albert Fábrega for DAZN España

Q: The sensation is that you made a step forward, as well with the car.

C: "Yes, we are finding the right direction slowly, with the aerodynamics and with the set up, trying to adapt it to this years situation, unfortunately, is not the one we would like to be, but it is important to know how to adapt and make the most of what is available."

Q: Where has the big change been? The new parts that have arrived or the changes in the set up…?

C: "Trying a lot of things, every weekend we are trying directions, getting it wrong, going back to base, trying another direction and we are getting there. Then the truth is that the team has made a tremendous effort the last three races to bring three aerodynamic packages to improve both the slow and fast cornering and it seems to be starting to pay off."

Q: That consistency is starting to come that you need to be fighting for the podium every race, it should be the target now

C: "What I look for is to run the races without going backwards. In the end, when you have a race like the one I had in Barcelona, when you start second and you see that you are going backwards little by little, that you are being overtaken in the race, they are quite depressing races from the point of view of the rider and the team. Because you leave the week feeling very angry, with a very bad feeling. You have to try to make a good race car that allows you to overtake, that allows you to fight, that allows you to go forward and that is what we are focusing on and it seems that both in Canada and Austria we have taken that step forward."

Q: And also on a circuit where you got your first victory, which I guess you have very good memories, how far are you from repeating that moment?

C: "What you see us as far away from Red Bull, is how far we are from winning at the moment. Red Bull is at a very, very high level and if you want to beat them and win, you need them to make a mistake, you need Max and Red Bull or Checo to fail and if not you have to have a perfect weekend yourself."

Q: Is it unbeatable right now, and can you only win by failing?

C: "If they don't make mistakes it is very difficult to beat them. At sixty laps, when you're four seconds off per lap, well, do the maths, it's 24 seconds of racing, 20 seconds. That's a long time, they take almost a pit stop. A pit stop like we saw in Austria gives them time to stop and set the fastest lap, that shows the advantage they have but if they make a mistake you have to be there. I think they are also doing a very good job. Max is also nailing it every weekend and you have to say that they deserve it and the rest of us have to do better."

Q: How do you se the moment you are going through right now? Do you feel comfortable inside the team, inside the structure of Ferrari?

C: "I think that after the big step we took last year, from being far behind to fighting for victories, this year we all expected the same or better, and it has been worse. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth on Sundays because you go backwards, for the factory, for everyone, it has been a bit of a shock, but if we are able to turn this moment around I think it will be a very important year for Ferrari because it will show the ability to suffer, the ability to find the right direction and for me that is a very important sign for a team."

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🇬🇧 Carlos interview for Sky Sports F1

Q: It's a tough day for the team, not able to salvage anything from 4th and 5th dropping all the way down to 9th and 10th, what were you main frustrations and challenges?

C: “I think the main points are that first of all we were not as quick as we expected. McLaren was quicker than us, Mercedes was quicker than us, already that puts you a bit on the back foot, then honestly I was happy with my race, I extended the medium tyre, on the hard tyre I was coming back to the field and I was very very quick but unfortunately the SC came out in the worst possible time for me. I didn’t have any medium tyres left, all of my softs were used, we risked it by staying out on hards and it didn’t work out”

Q: Many were predicting that you were gonna be able to jump the McLaren's early, were you surprise at how Lando was able to pull away at the start?

C: “They were just simply quicker than us today, quicker than we expected and Mercedes was also faster and with less deg, so clearly some work to do still. Before coming into this weekend I said we needed a track like Silverstone to asses how much progress we had made and it’s confirmed that in windy conditions and high speed there’s still some work to do”

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🇬🇧 Carlos interview with Fox News Mexico after the race.

Q: Pierre was saying "don't squeeze me like that" , we haven't seen were you squeeze him, when did it happened?

C: Me neither. [chuckles]

Q: What can you tell us about the strategy call? You doubted for a moment to stop or not to put a soft...

C: "It's just that basically the position he was going to finish in was the same, which was tenth. I knew that by staying out on the hard I was at least sixth and I had to defend [or seventh]. So if I could defend myself well and if not I finished tenth and if I didn't stop I put a soft and came out tenth, which is where I ended up. So I don't think there was much difference because of the timing of the safety car, I think I was always going to finish tenth."