After Sainz's UP crash from the Austrian GP when he was in P3 and about to win an easy P2, several experts believe that the Spaniard's abandonment may have been the "end of the line" for Sainz's title hopes this season.
Following the breakdown of Sainz's UP from the Austrian GP when he was in P3 and on the verge of an easy P2, several experts believe that the Spaniard's abandonment may have been the "end of the line" for Sainz's title hopes this season.
The Spaniard was only 11 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc at the start for the Austrian GP, but after his UP meltdown, he is now 36 points behind Leclerc and 74 behind championship leader Verstappen.
With the season coming to a halfway point in Austria, this fact may lead Ferrari to start imposing orders on the teams to maximize Leclerc's results from here on out, leaving the applauded and surprising "let them run" policy in the first half of the season.
Speaking on the Podcast of , W Series champion Jamie Chadwick was with W Series journalist Andrew Benson and host Jack Nicholls, where the three discussed the situation.
"One of the most striking things for me after Sainz's crash was Mattia Binotto on the pit wall - the camera showed him with his head between his hands," Nicholls said of the Ferrari team boss' reaction to the failure.
"He has curly black hair and his nails were scraping at him in that frustrated way. And when he raised his head again, the color was indistinguishable from his T-shirt, like it was really a painful situation for Binotto."
"Because not only did this happen and cost them second place and a double, it will hurt Sainz further down the line. Leclerc has already had to take an engine punishment, surely that will affect Sainz as well."
With Leclerc serving an engine punishment in Canada, as Ferrari has struggled with the reliability of its UP so far in 2022, Benson said that more pain is likely to approach Sainz in the not-too-distant future.
"Sainz has already used his three allocated engines this season," he said.
"So we are now halfway through the season and he will certainly have an engine penalty soon. It looks like he and Leclerc will have another UP punishment on top of that, given their engine usage at the moment. I haven't heard that Ferrari has a solution to that problem yet."
"So, I think Sainz might even have a UP punishment at the next race in France. That's a real blow to his title hopes, which he thought he had a chance after winning at Silverstone."
As a result, Benson suggested that the timing may be a catalyst in how the title fight will continue from here.
"But actually, paradoxically, in terms of the championship, it gives them a clearer divfrom now on halfway through the season," he said.
"Leclerc now has a decisive advantage over Sainz. It might make their life a little easier in terms of making Leclerc their definitive number one."
But Champion Chadwick said that while Ferrari may make that call, Sainz may not be willing to accept it easily.
"Maybe from the team's point of view, but from Carlos' point of view, it will probably have the opposite effect," he suggested.
"He will be even more frustrated by the situation and even more worried about himself. Especially after that win at Silverstone, which I think he thought was overdue."
"He's going to be very frustrated. He wants to prove that he is not Leclerc's number two because, in his mind, he is not. But of course the facts and the race results and the qualifying results and whatever you show, he's been second in pace overall. But if you try to tell him that, he's not going to take it for a second."
Benson's response was that given the two UP failures that have knocked Leclerc out of the lead in two GPs, as well as the Monegasque's consistent pace advantage, Sainz is in no position to argue.
"Leclerc was definitely faster than him pretty much all year," he said.
"So Sainz couldn't have too many complaints, given the championship div if Ferrari turned around and said 'Carlos, we really have to do this now.' I'm not sure they will because Binotto was so adamant in his position about saying that drivers can compete with each other and as long as they maximize their points, they are not each other's competitors. But that philosophy only works if you are actually beating Red Bull."
"But if you're facing a rival as imposing as Red Bull and Verstappen, I think they really need to start thinking about whether they need to make that decision now."