Why maiden F1 win did not change Sainz

Ewan Gale
Sunday 14 August 2022 11:30

Carlos Sainz has insisted his maiden F1 victory did not alleviate any stress from his shoulders.

The Spaniard took his first pole position at Silverstone and despite making an early error to allow Max Verstappen through, Sainz made the most of the Red Bull driver's damage issues and a battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc to surge to the win.

The Ferrari driver was competitive again in Austria before his power unit gave way, resulting in a fiery end, whilst Sainz was the fastest driver at the French Grand Prix and would likely have won had it not been for a back-of-the-grid penalty.

Sainz out-qualified Leclerc in Hungary and finished ahead of the Monégasque to underline his turn in fortunes from a tough start to the season that saw him spin into the gravel or barriers three times in two race weekends.

"Not having the question of 'When are you going to win?' was the biggest thing but I was pretty clear in my mind that was going to happen," said Sainz, referring to the effect of his first win in F1.

"I had been close a couple of times before and this year I kept believing it was going to happen.

"It didn't relieve any sort of stress or anything because in Austria I felt very similar to any other race weekend.

"But it keeps giving me the feeling I'm closer and closer every time, and in Austria, it was again a good example of being in the fight for a win and in the mix, which is exactly what I'm intending to do in every race."