JANUARY 9, 2024
Top Ten of 2023 - Sixth - Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz
© Ferrari
By Luis Vasconcelos
The only man to win a Grand Prix this year without driving a Red Bull, Carlos Sainz’s 2023 was a good summary of his career and ability. Quick, but not at Leclerc, Verstappen or Hamilton’s level when it comes the time to squeeze that final bit from the car in Q3, the man from Madrid was consistent, made few mistakes and proved he’s way more intelligent than the average driver with a superb display in the fianl 20 laps of the Singapore Grand Prix, earning hiw win the hard way,
But Sainz’s weekends can also be easily derailed is things start off the wrong way or he he feels he’s at a track where, historically, he has no answer for Leclerc’s speed, like in Baku or Suzuka, for example. To his credit, Sainz has been able to rise above the conspiracy theories that abound in his camp about an alleged internal favoritism towards Leclerc and fought hard with his own guns. That’s what keep him in the battle for fourth in the championship until Abu Dhabi, his challenge collapsing after a crash early in FP2, that robbed him of precious track time and of vital confidence to attack the rest of the weekend.