Sainz Expresses 'Relief' Following First Race Of Season

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 at 09:00

Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz felt relieved after his SF-24 showed precisely what he wanted during the season's first race.

The Ferrari driver started the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix from P4 behind George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen but lost one more position to Sergio Perez already at the start.

From that point on, it was an attacking race for the Ferrari driver, and he was able to gain two positions to finish in P3. He told the media after the race:

"It's a bit of a relief because the last race where I was attacking was Austria, and we're talking about 13, 14 races ago."

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The problem for Scuderia Ferrari drivers in 2023 was that they had a strong qualifying car that lacked race pace. That meant they would almost always start from the front and then have to defend for their lives for the rest of the race.

"And then the rest of the races last year you just had to manage, look in the mirrors, control your pace. And there were very little opportunities to go and overtake people.

On the one hand, Sainz showed some defending masterclasses throughout 2023, good examples being the Italian Grand Prix and the Singapore Grand Prix. On the other hand, he said he enjoys going into attack mode more.

"I love going racing, and I love going overtaking, being aggressive, attacking. And with last year's car, it was simply impossible to do that."

The Spaniard said at the car launch of his team this season that he wished for a car that would allow him to attack and not only defend, and that is what he has.

In Bahrain, the 29-year-old finished third, but he was less than three seconds from Perez in P2, and it wasn't the track that suited Ferrari. That will give Sainz hope for the races to come. He added: