Ferrari is pleased with the progress Carlos Sainz has made during the first half of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
The Spaniard chalked up his first grand prix win at Silverstone, having secured a maiden F1 pole at that same event.
It was a performance that follow a fine outing in Canada, where the 27-year-old harried Max Verstappen in the latter stages, finishing second on that occasion.
Results since Silverstone have dropped away, though for the most part they’ve been for reasons out of Sainz’s hands; a mechanical failure in Austria which translated to a grid penalty in France.
In Hungary, Ferrari was found wanting strategically, as it had been in Paul Ricard and arguably also to a degree in Silverstone, compromising the results of both its drivers.
“Carlos has had three extremely strong weekends, Silverstone, Austria, France,” began Laurent Mekies, Racing Director at Ferrari.
“It did not show up so much on the final race classifications besides Silverstone because we had other things to deal with, but he has made great progress since the start of the season.
“We made no secret at the beginning of the year that naturally the car was not suiting him very well,” Mekies added.
“We had to work a lot with him, with his engineers, with everybody back in Maranello to make sure we can give him something he’s more comfortable with.
“These things take time and slowly it seems that we are heading towards the right direction, which is honestly a great sign for the team and the way we interact.”
The combination of Sainz and Charles Leclerc is well regarded, the latter having won five times in Formula 1 – three of those this season.
Ferrari’s weaknesses indeed do not appear driver-related, but mechanical and, more latterly, strategic.
By and large, the F1-75 has been the class of the field throughout the opening half of the season, but has proved fragile.
Both the factory team and its power unit customers have suffered reliability issues, leading Team Principal Mattia Binotto to concede that it is a concern.
A new hybrid system is expected to be debuted by the Prancing Horse next time out in Belgium.
While a number of elements have already been frozen in terms of development until the end of the 2025 season, the MGU-K, Energy Store, and Control Electronics can be upgraded until the end of August.
With the Belgian Grand Prix the last event before that window closes, any updates need to be in use at that event else they cannot be used for the balance of the current power unit regulation period.
Formula 1 is currently on its summer break, returning at Spa-Francorchamps for August 26-28.
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