Carlos Sainz admits he is “excited” to start Sunday’s Formula One Turkish Grand Prix from the back of the grid, as he takes on a whole new Ferrari power unit.
Sainz is using the latest power unit spec, which was debuted by teammate Charles Leclerc at the Russian GP, and will be demoted to the back of the grid if he exceeds his yearly allocation.
The Spaniard believes that focusing on the race rather than one lap performance in qualifying will provide long-term benefits.
“It’s gonna sound weird, but I’m actually excited about it,” he said. “It changes the whole weekend quite a lot, because you are probably not taking part in qualy.
“So all of a sudden my approach switches to the race, and it’s actually both my weak point and the weak point of the car at the moment, the race management and the tyre management.
“So I’m going to have the opportunity to have FP1, FP2 and FP3 to try all the different compounds and try and improve my tyre management and my understanding of the car in race conditions to try and make a step.
“And maybe the step if I discover something this weekend can help me until the end of the year. So I’m going to use it as a test weekend.
“And on top of that, at the start, you have nothing to lose, you’re already last.
“And I have a pretty good record of coming from the back in all my top fives and podiums. So I actually always enjoy it because there’s nothing to lose.”
Making a token effort in qualifying will provide Sainz with fresh soft tyres for race day, giving him more strategic options.
“That gives you a bit more window of opportunity for Sunday, bearing in mind that you’re starting last. You would rather have less opportunities and start fifth than start last,” he said of his strategy options.
“But it’s a good chance, and it’s always worked well for me in the past starting further back. So I’m just going to stay true to the way I’ve done it before, and I’ll see if I can make it back through the field.”
Sainz will also benefit from Ferrari’s latest power unit, which he hopes will give him an extra lift as he tries to make up ground.
“Obviously I’m also excited about the power unit, it’s not only about starting last.
“It’s a new power unit and I welcome all the development and all the effort that has been made to bring this forward these few races to try it this year. It looked promising in Sochi on Charles’s side, so to be honest, I’m excited about it.
“So every month that we can anticipate these things, every month that we can go back to the dyno and keep chipping away at it, because as you guys have seen we have a deficit in power still, a decent deficit that we are trying to correct, and hopefully this engine will help me to go through the field a bit easier than with the older one.”
The uniforms of Formula One racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
