F1: Sainz Jr. trying to ‘copy’ Leclerc’s driving

(GMM) Carlos Sainz Jr. admits he is “not driving naturally” at the wheel of Ferrari’s championship-contending 2022 car.

Whilst in Charles Leclerc’s hands the Maranello team’s new car is a pole-setter and race-winner, Spaniard Sainz has notably struggled.

Former F1 driver Christijan Albers says Sainz was “all over the place” in Barcelona.

“He isn’t comfortable in his own skin either,” he told De Telegraaf. “When I see him on camera, I don’t see the Sainz from a few years ago.”

27-year-old Sainz isn’t sure the situation will be different this weekend in Monaco.

“I always feel fast there,” he told El Mundo Deportivo, “but you need confidence in the car and a balance that you like.

“Until I get there and see how the car behaves I can’t say what’s going to happen.”

When asked what the problem is at the wheel of the 2022 Ferrari, Sainz explained: “I’m not driving naturally.

“It hasn’t been easy. You can probably see from the on-board that I’m struggling a lot to drive this car and understand how to get the most out of it.

“There has been a combination of misfortunes and mistakes on my part, which doesn’t help, but I think that in the future it will change, suddenly or little by little, but I just need to keep my head down,” he said.

“That’s it – it is what it is. You can adapt or you adapt the car a little more to your liking. These things take time and knowledge and experience, they take mistakes, they take trial and error.

“This is the process I’m in now as I try to correct it as soon as possible.”

Sainz also admitted that while he struggles, teammate Leclerc is in top form.

“He is driving at a very high level,” he said. “He is doing some super times, very impressive, staying aggressive in his driving style.

“I can only admire that and in some aspects copy while in others try to put it a little more in my direction to be faster – and that’s it,” added Sainz.