Carlos Sainz airs concern with Ferrari 'imperfections'

Sainz in Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

Australian Grand Prix

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Sainz airs concern with Ferrari 'imperfections'

Spanish driver spun and retired early in Australia

Ewan Gale

Sunday 10 April 2022 10:45

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Carlos Sainz has detailed a steering wheel problem triggered a series of events leading to his race-ending spin at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was on the back foot after experiencing issues in qualifying and starting ninth on used hard tyres, the Ferrari driver slipped back through the field.

On lap three, Sainz attempted to make up ground into the high-speed turn nine-10 chicane but got his braking-point wrong which resulted in him skipping over the grass before spinning across the track and into the gravel where he beached his car.

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Addressing his scrappy race, Sainz explained: "We had a problem with the steering wheel, a similar problem to yesterday which was a few buttons that were not working.

"We had to change the steering wheel and it meant the steering wheel was not well-positioned at the start and we got anti-stall at both starts because of the clutch and the torque.

"Because of that, I was on the back foot. I tried to make up the places and I clearly made a mistake when the tyre was probably not ready to start overtaking.

"I misjudged the grip and made a mistake that cost me the retirement."

Insisting improvements must be made overall, Sainz added: "Clearly I haven't been perfect this weekend, we haven't been perfect as a team clearly and we need to analyse what we did wrong and see how we can come back better."

Ferrari must be "more perfect"

Whilst Sainz struggled, team-mate Charles Leclerc was utterly dominant, eventually collecting all 26 available points to stretch his championship lead to 34.

On his frustration at missing out on points, Sainz said: "This car, the worst possible scenario was a top four with a good comeback.

"Without the issues of yesterday and the issues of today, we should have been fighting for the win.

"So to go away with zero points is very disappointing. We need to be more perfect as a team and this weekend we clearly haven't been."