Mattia Binotto gave his verdict on Carlos Sainz, and hailed him for meeting and exceeding Ferrari’s expectations.
Sainz left McLaren to join Ferrari at the beginning of the 2021 season. He became teammates with Charles Leclerc, who has been with the Italian team for a while now.
The newcomer was just expected to help Ferrari get P3 in the Constructors’ Championship. He fulfilled that objective, but he also ended up finishing as the better of the two drivers in the Drivers’ Championship.
In a season where all the new signings struggled, the Spaniard showed his class and impressed everyone, including his team principal. Accordingly, Binotto gave his verdict on Sainz, and praised him for his superb performances.
As quoted by RaceFans, Binotto said, “When we signed with Carlos, the objective was to have two good drivers that were good racers, consistent and capable of scoring points for the team and this is what we got this season.
“Being his very first season with Ferrari, it was not straightforward and obvious. But I think we signed with him because we said, ‘he is a good racer, consistent, capable of scoring points’.
“But I think he is as well a good learner, because he has proved that so much during the season, he has improved. And somehow I think the end of the season was his best part of this entire season itself.”
Smooth operator
Sainz had an exceptional 2021 season, and was Mr. Consistent in the midfield. He took four neat podium finishes, and was a clean and hard racer throughout.
While he had a few bad races, he was superb throughout the business end of it. He wrapped it up in fine style at the last race of the season, taking P3 at the Abu Dhabi GP.
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