Carlos Sainte’s impressive first season at Scuderia in 2021 saw the two sides reach a full agreement to renew their contract – as the Spaniard analyzed what he needs to improve after Bahrain to claim his maiden F1 win.

Carlos Saint was the only driver out of all the team changes in 2021 who managed to adapt so quickly and so well to his new environment – a difficult one like Maranello.

His two podium finishes with an unrivaled Mercedes and RBR car and the more experienced team’s biggest points win with Charles Leclerc now brings his contract extension, both himself and Scuderia director Matthias Binotto have confirmed, though without revealing the length of the new agreement.

In particular, when asked about the extension of his contract with Ferrari, the Spaniard told Bahrain: “I think we’re close, very close, very, very close. Extremely close. almost there”. And Binoto added: “I think we’ve found an agreement that just needs to be put on paper.”

The bad start and the dream of the first win

However, despite last year’s quick switch to the Ferrari SF21, things haven’t gone so well for the Spaniard this year with the new F1-75. As he said, his three-day race in Bahrain was his worst since joining Scuderia as he has not yet managed to adapt his driving style to the new car.

Discussing the issues preventing him from competing with Leclerc as Ferrari – perhaps for now – allow their two drivers to duel on track, Sainth explained: “In the three free trial periods, I was way behind, further behind than I had ever been while I was at it Ferrari, and that’s why i’m not completely satisfied in these three days, despite the 1-2 we achieved.

It was the most difficult weekend I’ve had as their driver Ferrari and now I have to put my head down to understand this car where Charles makes the difference with his driving style and the way he approaches the corners and manages the tires as in the race.he added.

He went into further detail, adding: “I’m not driving the way the car should be driven, at least with the settings we have now. Charles clearly did better, he was faster every three days. I think I went up to a decent level in the second and third qualifying rounds where I managed to do two good laps and be at a good level. But on the remaining three days I was three tenths down.

It’s a delay I never had last year, it’s something new for me and it’s been a bit of a difficult weekend. I need to find out where those 3-4 tenths are and once I find them and get the car going and learn exactly how to drive it then I’m sure I’ll be able to get a win gain “But until then I have to put my head down and work.”

Looking ahead to the second F1 race this year, the next three days (25-27/3) in Jeddah, the 27-year-old said: “I have to improve if I want to get a win and I’ll try to make progress for Jeddah. I think yes, I can improve from weekend to weekend. Whether I can cover the difference completely is a good question. “I hope I can do that and I will work very hard for it.”

Leclerc: Your big change this year Ferrari

At the same time, Charles Leclerc revels in the seven heavens with his victory in Bahrain and, above all, with the impressive way in which he achieved it – but also with the fact that, as he said, Ferrari has proven that he can be back in the Championship is battle this year. .

“At the beginning of the year we knew we would be in a better position than the previous two years but we didn’t know exactly where. Now we see that we are in contention for the title and it’s amazing. I think , we are both.” very, very happy that we have a winning car and we will certainly fight against that.said Monegasque.

The view that Scuderia has returned to the top of Formula 1 was also voiced by Saint: “Before the race we spoke to Charles and the first thing we said was how nice it feels to start from first and third place and fight together for something bigger. “It’s definitely going to be a big year and we have to make sure the car develops well – because it’s a fast car at the moment but it has to stay fast all year round to win the championship.”

Leclerc also spoke about the big change this year that took place with the goals from Maranello, the change in mentality in the operation of the team: “It’s been a long time since we started work on this car. “There was a lot of work and also a significant change in mentality.”said the 24-year-old.

And he concluded: “After 2019 we had two very difficult years and the team at the factory did a very good job. We were also very good at identifying the weaknesses of our cars from previous years. This resulted in a very good car that gave us the opportunity to get better places in the races”.

Photo credit: Ferrari Media