Carlos Sainz has finished the 2022 season with a fourth position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, he ended up upset with Lewis Hamilton over his clash in the opening laps at Yas Marina.
The start of the Ferrari driver was not good and he was overtaken by the British. But Sainz had much more pace and tried to overtake. He got it but Hamilton used the outside loophole to cross the track and leave ahead of the Spaniardthe same action that the Mercedes driver did last year with Max Verstappen.
Hamilton did not get his way and had to give him back the position, but he did it cleverly to attack him again with the DRS and get back in front. Carlos Sainz easily overtook him shortly after due to some power problems in the seven-time champion’s car (he ended up retiring at the end of the race), but the fight lasted a long time and he came out of it far behind Charles Leclerc and the Red Bull.
“It’s been a tough race, especially at the beginning with the Mercedes. I’ve wasted a lot of time with Hamilton doing the little trick from last year skipping the chicane when it had happened to him, and then giving me back the position, taking the DRS and overtaking me again”, commented the man from Madrid after the race.
“Let’s say there I lost five or six seconds of the race that have cost me a lot, but then I was able to make my rhythm. I’ve managed to finish fourth, that was the goal”, he concluded by affirming the ’55’.
In addition, he was “happy” with the second positions in the World Cup for both Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.