Both the track and the place itself have a special place in Carlos Sainz’s heart: “It’s here that I won my first race in single-seaters and a year ago here I took my first Formula 1 win. I cannot deny I felt something special when I drove into the circuit this morning and then as I went through the swipe gate. I remembered the fans cheering as I took the chequered flag, the great happiness I felt as soon as I crossed the finish line and the emotion on standing on the top step of the podium, listening to my Spanish national anthem and the Italian one for the Scuderia.”
Hope and expectations. When speaking to the media, the Spaniard was realistic when looking at the current situation. “My hopes are always high. I arrive at every Grand Prix super motivated and ready to push to the maximum. Clearly the hierarchy this season is different to the one in 2022 and so too therefore are our expectations. Red Bull is clearly ahead and we have a lot of work ahead of us to reach their level,” confirmed Carlos. “But in the last few races, I think we have made concrete progress, which meant that, in Austria, we were leading the field behind Max Verstappen and Checo Perez. We have to continue like this and try to make the most of every opportunity.”
In recent races, the SF-23 has become more driveable and kinder on tyres. If these qualities are also confirmed here, they will put us in a position where we can close some of the technical shortcomings we have seen so far this season. We can’t wait to get out on track here to check this out.”