At the age of 27, Carlos Sainz is still remembered as the very young, underage driver who met Zandvoort in the rain in Formula BMW, more than a decade ago. The Dutch track will make overtaking difficult and that can be a help for Ferrari without being able to defend a good classification, as in Monaco. In any case, the weekend is full of unknowns as it is a new circuit. The Madrilenian spoke with AS.
“You know Zandvoort, an advantage?”
—I came for the first time in 2010 with Formula BMW, it rained a lot, and then I came a couple of times in the F3 Masters. It was one of my favorite tracks and I can’t imagine what a lap in F1 will be like. But I know the old Zandvoort and the first and third sectors have changed, so it is a new circuit. The second doesn’t change that much, apart from a few loopholes, but it was so long ago that I don’t think it will help me. What helps the most is the simulator, which I have done.
“Old-school brave circuit?”
-It is a circuit in which you have to be brave in qualifying, have the car very close to hand to squeeze it to the maximum in this type of open curves. I hope to be comfortable from the first training and go little by little.
“How do you like the cant?”
—Very cool, if the wheels hold it and everything goes as it should, it will be a unique sensation and different from what we are used to.
“Slow circuit, good for the Ferrari?”
—It’s not slow, from 200 kilometers per hour upwards. The last one is deep, the previous one is at 190 km / h, they are medium and high curves, as happened in Hungary. The only really slow circuits are Monaco and Baku, which is where we went the best. I don’t think he will get ahead, although qualifying will be one of the funniest of the season.
“But with a good ranking, you can’t get ahead here.” Can you defend a top-5 here?
“If qualifying goes well, you should hold out ahead.” But it is a new circuit and my opinion may change after training. We will focus on the qualifying set-up to see how we can take advantage of these conditions.
—How did you experience the Ferrari tribute for your birthday in Maranello?
—Very special, Mattia said it very well, ‘essere Ferrari’ is special and I thank all the workers who shared those minutes to celebrate my birthday, because they made me feel very special.