Is Carlos Sainz a Future F1 World Champion?
After another successful season for Carlos Sainz, and with the 2022 season dawning a new F1, with the right car, can Carlos Sainz be an F1 champion?
With the chaos that ensued at the end of the 2021 Formula World Championship, it has been easy to forget that Carlos Sainz finished a mighty fifth in the world championship and above his teammate Charles Leclerc who finished 7th.
This achievement can not be understated. In his first season in a Ferrari car, he managed to not only finish best of the rest but beat the future of Ferrari, the chosen one, the one to lead them to greatness.
Yet is this a surprise? Since he joined Toro Rosso in 2015 where he finished 15th with 18 points, he's been on a steady trajectory of improvement in terms of points and championship finishes.
2016- 12th, 46pts / 2017- 9th, 54pts / 2018- 10th, 53pts / 2019- 6th, 96pts / 2020 - 6th, 105pts / 2021 - 5th, 164.5pts.
As you can see, except in 2018 where he finished one place and one point behind his 2017 finish, Carlos Sainz improves year after year.
It also seems the tougher challenges get and the more expectations there are on him to perform, which comes through driving for McLaren and Ferrari, the more he rises to those challenges and the better he becomes.
Though not only did he beat one of F1's new poster boys this year, he also beat Lando Norris in both his seasons at McLaren.
Yes, he was vastly more experienced than the man from Britain at the time, but so far, when faced with a so-called future F1 world champion as a teammate, he has beaten them, yet no one seems to consider Sainz as a world champion in waiting.
Why is this? Is it due to his age, where at 27 he's too old to be considered one for the future but isn't quite old enough to be an established veteran so he's left in limbo?
Or is it that he lacks that superstar persona, that natural energy of a world champion that the likes of Verstappen, Leclerc, or Russel have.
It's important to remember that what he lacks in natural ability, he makes up with incredible amounts of hard work and that's what makes the Spaniard stand out.
He's had to work hard because his journey hasn't been easy, he's constantly been fighting to prove himself worthy of a seat in F1.
First, he was dropped by the Red Bull driver programme, before finding a seat with Renault. Then after only a season and a bit with Renault, he was replaced by Ricciardo, luckily he then secured a move to McLaren, before being offered a place at Ferrari.
Throughout his time in F1 he has never really found a home, always being replaced by the driver believed to be better than him, but 9 times out of 10, this never turns out to be true.
What this has given Sainz is an ability to never give up and to keep performing even when things aren't going his way, that's what separates the great from the good in F1.
Unfortunately for 55, he has another young prodigy breathing down his neck and that's Mick Schumacher.
Eventually, that means Sainz will have his seat taken by the German but with Mick having only just completed his first season in F1, Sainz may have a few years in hand.
With this contract set to run out at the end of 2022, Mattia Binotto says he'll talk with Sainz over the winter about his contact, he recognises all the brilliant work Sainz has put in this year and also how strong the pairing of Carlos and Charles is.
With that in mind, it looks like Sainz will be getting a couple more years at least in a Ferrari seat.
This is good, because with the new rules changes coming in 2022, Ferrari is expected to have a competitive car, one capable of fighting at the front.
Sainz has answered all the questions thrown at him during his career, he is constantly proving his doubters wrong. The only question left to answer is how well can he perform when there is an expectation to win.
We have seen Leclerc's ability to win and compete in his 2019 season but when the pressure is at its highest and where there is no room for mistakes can Carlos Sainz rise to the occasion like the greats of the past have.
Right now we don't know, but in 2022 we will find out and if he can rise to the occasion, well Carlos Sainz might well be our 2022 World Champion.
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Comments (5)
I think, if Ferrari can give him the equipment, Sainz could take the title in '22, which could give Ferrari a problem as to what to do with Mick.
In that scenario, would they replace Leclerc with Mick? That would be very interesting
Possibly - think Sainz doing so well this season may have given the Ferrari bosses a bit of a conundrum, though Leclerc did have some tough races - he needs to bring his A game next year..
He’ll be grabbed by Aston Martin or Mercedes after 2022/23.
Lewis has maybe two years at the most left in the sport and Vettel probably one more year. My moneys on Aston Martin replacing Vettel with him.
At either team he will do a stellar job. Just hope once he crosses 30 he won't be deemed too old.