Why Carlos Sainz Jr. Must Bounce Back In 2024

Carlos Sainz jr. ended his 2023 F1 campaign with 200 points, which were six fewer than the man who stood fifth on the Driver’s Standings; his own teammate, Charles Leclerc.

In the end, a seventh on the rankings didn’t really do justice to Carlos Sainz’s enormous potential as also his own season in that he was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The way the famed Spaniard triumphed at the night safari of Singapore was a brilliant understudy in car control and tyre management, the latter perhaps an art that hasn’t quite been underlined in great detail whether by writers or the sport’s commentators.

For the sake of his own motivation, Carlos Sainz emerging victorious at the Marina Bay circuit amid intense pressure with the two Mercedes drivers catching up his bloodshot red SF 23 and not to forget, Lando Norris made the victorious saga, something to savour.

Then the very fact that his teammate Leclerc wasn’t able to once stand on the top step of the podium made Sainz’s winning effort rather special. Just what would’ve been had the Monegasque too bagged a race win in 2023.

But then, whatever happened, has happened; can’t be denied, can’t be changed.

What can definitely be, however, is to seek improvement and learn the vital lessons for the upcoming Formula 1 world championship, which one suspects, could be another close fight between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

But how is that by the way?

In finishing the last three races with hardly any strong finishes to his name, that’s considering you rate a P6 at Sao Paulo and another P6 at Las Vegas, eventually followed by a P18 at Abu Dhabi as decent performances, Sainz couldn’t end the year on a high.

But what he did do before that was to score points consistently. His smashing pole position at Monza, wherein he denied both the menacingly quick Red Bull cars the fastest lap time during Q3 was an effort to marvel.

Come the race day and Sainz would defend with all might his track position from a ragingly fast Verstappen, who lest it is forgotten, happens to be a former teammate.

Nevertheless, even as the Madrid-born 29-year-old conceded the track leader position to the Flying Dutchman, he did as well as he could to garner that P3; somethings are better than nothing especially if in attendance are tens of thousands of Tifosi.

It’s not that Sainz performed well at tracks with high downforce alone; even at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve at Canada’s Montreal, Sainz was decent in qualifying, garnering an eighth in comparison to Charles’s P11.

Though, he’d finish a place behind Charles Leclerc; Sainz’s P5 was arguably a decent drive if not a disappointing one in the main race. Leclerc finished in fourth. And together the two Ferraris were able to draw home points on a day where they hardly seemed able to bring the fight to Aston Martin and Mercedes.

But the drives at tracks like Austria and Spain, where Carlos Sainz bagged a sixth and fifth, respectively, highlighted his consistency if not the sheer bloody mindedness to undermine the rest of the grid. These are very tracks where he’s performed significantly better in the previous seasons, hasn’t he?

As a matter of factly, Sainz had notched up a maiden race win at Silverstone in 2022, the home to the British Grand Prix.

Where all did Carlos Sainz impress this year?

Redoubtable car control and rapid speed were the two outstanding features of his British GP win, precisely the factors that the earnest man would like to bring to the table in 2024. Also, add to that a dash of luck, precisely the thing he didn’t have at tracks like Vegas and Abu Dhabi, where he wasn’t entirely wrong or was he?

That being said, Sainz has demonstrated the keenness to dominate the Scuderia stable despite being in the clear know of things that at Ferrari, it is Charles, not Carlos who’s the golden boy or the man who they tip for greatness.

But in rising to the occasion and being a bit of a showman in having set the crowds roaring thanks to a special Monza 2023 drive, the Spaniard has proven that he’s the Smooth Operator and isn’t here to be a sitting duck on whom Charles can pounce.

If Ferrari are going to go for the kill, then both their drivers will have to mount an assault on the rest of the grid, its main challengers, precisely speaking. And in midst of his onerous challenge, Carlos Sainz Jr. will clearly have his task cut out.