Carlos Sainz has set his sights on helping Ferrari string together a proper assault on the Formula 1 World Championship in 2023.
Sainz enters his third season with the Italian team this year, with the Spaniard looking to improve upon a previous best finish of fifth place in the Drivers’ championship and simultaneously aid Ferrari in building on their second-place finish in the Constructors’ standings last term.
Courtesy of a more competitive Ferrari package inspired by the reset to the technical regulations at the beginning of last season, Sainz was able to claim his maiden race win at Silverstone and clocked three pole positions across the campaign.
Speaking after the launch of the team’s 2023 car, the SF-23, Sainz has outlined his personal and collective targets for the year ahead as Ferrari aims to end its protracted wait for an F1 title.
“Obviously to try and improve those numbers,” Sainz said of his own ambitions for this season.
“I think the priority here for the team is to make another step forward like we did last year.
“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.”
Despite a much-improved Ferrari package at his disposal through last season, Sainz struggled hugely when the F1-75 was at its most competitive in the early stages.
Having largely been on the pace of team-mate Charles Leclerc at the end of his debut season in red, the ex-Renault and McLaren driver consistently ended up the slower of the two Ferrari drivers and was caught in numerous incidents that damaged his race results.
Asked in an interview with Sky Sports F1 whether the best version of Sainz would be seen at the start of the new season, the Spaniard argued: “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.
“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.”
While Sainz made a noticeable improvement as the year progressed, Ferrari regressed in relative competitiveness compared to the title-winning Red Bull squad.
To counteract the deficiencies that witnessed them fall short in the development race, Ferrari has developed an evolution of last year’s F1-75 to combat the weaknesses of the SF-23’s predecessor.
However, with Ferrari also encountering reliability and strategic troubles, alongside its development woes, Sainz has suggested the team are aware of the improvements that need to be made in 2023 for the Maranello outfit to take the final step that eluded it again last year.
“I think ever since I’ve been in Ferrari the expectation is always to win. 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 [the] 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.”
Sainz completed his first laps in the SF-23 around the team’s Fiorano test track immediately after the launch of the new car.
Further preparations for the new season will continue for Ferrari with a filming day, before all the constructors fly out to Bahrain for pre-season testing at the end of the month.
