Sainz sets 2023 goal: Hit the ground running and ‘stay in the fight’

Carlos Sainz says his ambition next season is to battle for the title at the outset and to remain in the fight throughout the 2023 campaign as he's confident that Ferrari will produce a race-winning car next season.

Like his Scuderia teammate Charles Leclerc, Sainz had high hopes for 2022 given Ferrari’s strength in pre-season testing, but unlike the Monegasque who won two of the first three races, the Spaniard lost ground to his front-running rivals early on.

Sainz nevertheless enjoyed a productive summer, scoring his maiden Grand Prix win at Silverstone in July.

With four races to go, the 28-year-old is fifth in the championship but just 5 points behind Mercedes’ George Russell.

But regardless of where he concludes his current campaign, Sainz’ self-proclaimed objective for next year is to establish momentum early on and to uphold his strength throughout the season to put himself in contention for the title.

“My goal is to be World Champion one day,” he told Spain’s AS. “I hope if there is a good car again next year, I can be in the fight from the start.

“Not to drop off in that first half because I know once I’m in the fight, I’m capable of staying in the fight. That will be the goal.

“We are working at Ferrari to get the car back and to improve as a team so that if the opportunity comes up again next year, we don’t let it slip away.”

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Sainz made his Formula 1 debut in 2015 with Scuderia Toro Rosso, racing alongside Max Verstappen. After eight seasons, the Spaniard is now a polished and experienced racer.

However, a glance at the career of his former mentor Fernando Alonso tells him that maturity is an ever-evolving state.

“I must be at a point close to that maturity, but then you see drivers like Fernando [Alonso] who reinvent themselves year by year and I think maturity as such never ends,” said Sainz.

“Every year you spend in F1 you get better, you learn more. Yes, the eight years of experience helps, but I will keep learning new things.”

Sainz’s 2022 season will remain a banner year of sorts for the Ferrari charger, marked by his first F1 triumph, which made him only the second Spaniard after Alonso to win in F1.

But in a season speeding along quicker than a bullet-train, his achievement at the British Grand Prix is but a distant memory, but one that he’ll revive this winter.

“Once you’ve achieved it, and while you are involved in the hectic F1 season with all the races, it becomes normal,” he added.

“It’s funny because maybe in the winter I’ll have more time to think about it and I’ll feel differently. But right now…because every race is a chance to win, I’m not worried about what happened at Silverstone.

“Yes, when I’m older and not as competitive as I am now, and I’m more in ‘thinking mode’, I’m sure I’ll look at it that way.”

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