Carlos Sainz was aiming for a podium finish in the Austrian GP but an engine failure forced him to retire burning hopes of a Ferrari 1-2.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was having a great race on Sunday during the 2022 Austrian GP. The Spaniard had overtaken Max Verstappen and had held on to P2 before pitting.
Ahead of the 56th Lap of the Red Bull Ring, Sainz who was 3rd was catching up on Verstappen. The Dutchman had just lost the lead of the race to Charles Leclerc.
Sainz’s Ferrari was reportedly matching the speed of the Red Bull and could have overtaken in the coming few laps. But the engine of the Spaniard’s Ferrari F1-75 blew up violently catching flames.
Sainz was forced to park his car, which was already up in flames on the exit of Turn 4. What could have been a clear 1-2 for the Prancing Horse. Had Sainz finished 2nd Ferrari could have secured 18 additional points.
This meant they could have closed the gap to Red Bull who suffered a DNF. He was clearly frustrated with the reliability issues of the Ferrari Power unit and his bad luck, he described the incident in his post-race interview.
“We were on for a very easy P2 and a one-two for the team, a very big result for the team. We were very quick on the hard tyres especially, and we were catching back up on Charles. Good signs, I had the pace and the momentum that we were getting was very nice.”
He added, “But it looks to be the story of my season: as soon as we get a bit of momentum, there is something that goes wrong. And it’s difficult to continue with it. This weekend, we were very quick and it should have been an easy one-two for the team.”
This was Sainz’s fourth retirement in te 2022 season. He previously retired from the Azerbaijan GP following a Hydraulic issue. He currently stands 4th in the 2022 drivers championship.
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Why Carlos Sainz couldn’t get out of his car quickly?
Carlos Sainz suffered a massive engine blow up. He was on route to collect a podium finish after being fast enough to catchup with Max Verstappen. But the engine of the Ferrari F1-75 exploded damaging all internal components and the car chassis.
The rear end of his Ferrari went up in flames as he parked the car in the exit of Turn 4. Sainz tried to get out of his car, but the car kept rolling backwards. This delayed his exit from the burning Ferrari.
Sainz also said the marshals present at the scene took alot more time than expected. He himself was confused and thus delayed getting out of his car. He described the incident as;
“Yes, it was a very tricky situation because I wanted to jump out, but the car was rolling backwards and I didn’t want the car to roll back forever and I knew I was catching a bit of fire and I was waiting for the marshals to come. They never came until quite late, so it was a bit of a moment, but nothing happened.”
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