Carlos Sainz’s schedule in the week before the Spanish Grand Prix is always very busy: in his home country the Ferrari driver is receiving increasing interest from the press, and yesterday he was a guest on the popular program El Hormiguero (“the anthill”), broadcast on the TV channel Antena 3.
“We have to find a certain balance,” said Carlos, speaking about the mood before the home race. – I want to prepare as best as possible, because I have to perform at home in front of all the Spanish fans and the motivation is at the highest level.
On the other hand, the home stage takes a lot of energy, because nowadays you have to spend much more time communicating with fans, with the press, many events are held with the participation of sponsors, who of course want me to participate in them.
Overall the schedule is extremely tight, but at the same time I can’t get tired before the race. That’s why I try to sleep, rest and train normally, but not too intensively, so that I can be in excellent condition for the Grand Prix.”
The presenter of the program asked, among other things, whether Carlos should lose weight, and the driver explained what the current situation is: “If the car initially turns out to be too heavy, then the driver should lose weight. With overalls, helmet, seat and everything else, I should not weigh more than 80 kg. And now my weight is not more than 72 kg.
If I am at a level of say 77kg together with all the ammunition, this means that about 3kg can be placed as ballast somewhere in the lower part of the machine to lower the center of gravity. Or in the front fender area if I want to shift the balance forward. Or it can be moved back – generally I have a reserve of 3 kg, with which I can do whatever I want.
If the car weighs three kilograms more, this means a loss of 0.1 second per lap. In qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix this could be one or even two positions. And one tenth of a lap during a 60 lap race results in a loss of 6 seconds. In these six seconds I am willing to sacrifice a lot!….”
This season is Sainz’s last at Ferrari. In February it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would become Charles Leclerc’s new teammate next year.
“Of course I didn’t like it,” Carlos said. – Who would like it if they told him that the team no longer plans to continue the collaboration? The years I spent at Ferrari were very successful and I started this season well by winning the Australian Grand Prix, but if a seven-time world champion wants to drive for Ferrari, nothing can be done. I try to be philosophical about this, and I also see that this opens up new opportunities for me. I still want to be world champion, but for now at least I want to win races.
To be honest, I can’t complain about the way they treat me at Ferrari. There can be tense moments in all teams, but we perform at the highest level, so in such cases all you have to do is turn the page and leave the problems in the past. The bottom line is that my partner and I are friends off the court, we have a great relationship and we make a really good team together…”
Of course, Carlos also had to answer the question of what he plans to do in the future.
“I have several options in front of me and I have to make a decision,” said Sainz. “I can say that I will make my choice very soon because I want to solve this problem and fully concentrate on the rest of the season at Ferrari. This year I’m driving a car that allows me to fight for podiums, that I can win some races with, and that’s the most important thing now.
All teams that have vacancies for next year have included me in their list of possible candidates and offered me contracts. I could sign the contract tomorrow, but I won’t. I am going to proceed calmly, although I plan to make a decision soon.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
