Carlos Sainz says he is determined to start his 2023 campaign with Ferrari "on the right foot", and the Spaniard knows exactly what he needs to do to hit the ground running in Bahrain next month.
Sainz took his first F1 win last season when he triumphed at the British Grand Prix, but overall, the Scuderia charger finished well adrift from Charles Leclerc in the Drivers' standings.
The Spaniard was outpaced by his Scuderia teammate from the outset as he suffered more difficulties in adapting to his team's new-generation car. But reliability issues also weighed on his track record.
Asked during Tuesday's launch at Fiorano about his ambitions for this season, the 28-year-old said that his goal was "obviously to try and improve" on his 2022 numbers.
©Ferrari
"I think the priority here for the team is to make another step forward like we did last year," he said.
"Now we want to do another step and definitely get in that fight for the World Championship for all the race wins and try to be as competitive as we can but at the same time try to improve in all the areas that we set ourselves as goals."
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Sainz suggested that last year he perhaps hadn't offered the best version of himself at the outset, and that is a shortfall that he is determined not to repeat.
"There were a couple of little issues there at the beginning of the year, but I still scored a couple of podiums at the beginning, so it wasn’t such a bad thing," he explained.
"But, for sure, this year I want to start with the right foot, and I want to make sure I hit the ground running from the beginning.
"I know exactly what I need to do if I want to do that. I’ve been working hard over this winter and now I’m ready for it."
Ferrari's new contender – the SF-23 – is an evolution of the design that allowed the Scuderia to challenge Red Bull in the first half of the season last year.
The Italian outfit is banking on its car's speed, but also on its engine's performance gains and improved reliability to battle its rivals at every round from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi.
But Sainz says he's taking a more short-term view on his season as it allows him to focus on Ferarri's more immediate needs.
"I think ever since I’ve been in Ferrari the expectation is always to win," commented Sainz.
"I think in our heads when you represent Ferrari, you know that you need to represent those values and always the ambition to try and win,” the one-time race winner explained.
"But I look a lot more in short-term. I think in February everyone wants to be World Champion and everybody feels like they have opportunities, but for me focusing in the short-term means focusing in what can we do to be a better team.
"And we know exactly the three or four points that we need to improve compared to last year if we want to achieve that."
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