Carlos Sainz produced an incredible performance at Circuit Paul Ricard after finishing P5 despite starting from 19th.
Ferrari’s turbulent 2022 season continued after Sainz’s engine blew up in Austria. The Spaniard looked set for a second placed finish behind Charles Leclerc but he was forced to retire.
As a result of the damage to his power-unit, Sainz had to change multiple components of his engine. Consequently, he started last week’s French GP from P19. It was always going to be difficult charging up the field, but the Madrid born driver made it look effortless.
He made his way up to P10 when Leclerc crashed out after a mistake. In spite of having a slow pit-stop, he found himself in third place with just 10 laps to go. His team however decided to call him for fresher tyres, insisting that he would lose places if he didn’t pit.
He rejoined the race in ninth, but ended up in fifth with the fastest lap of the race. Fans recognized the Ferrari driver’s brilliant performance and voted him as ‘Driver of the day’.
Carlos Sainz refused to fit in water bottle in his Ferrari at Circuit Paul Ricard
The weather in Le Castellet was absolutely scorching. Temperatures were high all weekend, and several drivers admitted that they struggled with the heat during the race.
37-year old Lewis Hamilton revealed that his drinks bottle failed during the outing. This took a toll on his health, and we saw the Brit lying down on the floor of the cooling room after his P2 finish to catch his breath. Hamilton also revealed that he lost up to 3 kgs during his French GP.
Sainz meanwhile opted to start the race without having a bottle installed altogether. Every single component installed in an F1 car adds weight, which affects the speed. Sainz wanted his car to be as light as possible to have an advantage, and this was why he made the call.
“I didn’t drink,” he admitted after the race. “The car is overweight and so I decided not to take a bottle. I prefer to be faster by a tenth. It was very hot.”
