Carlos Sainz has proven to be a stellar signing for Ferrari. The Spaniard joined the Scuderia in 2021 as the replacement for the outgoing Sebastian Vettel. Ever since he joined the team, he has been giving tough competition to Tifosi favorite Charles Leclerc.

Even though Sainz has proved a worthy opponent to Leclerc, he has mostly been behind the Monegasque in Qualifying and Race head-to-head. This isn’t for a lack of trying, though. Sainz has now opened up about how he feels to miss out on getting one up on his teammate and rival Max Verstappen, often by the finest of margins.

Post Saturday’s Japanese Grand Prix qualifying, he said, “I’m a bit fed up of being half a tenth off from pole. I think it’s been a few qualis now, consecutive since Zandvoort.”

He then went on to rue about his torrid luck. “Also, before the summer break, where we are all three very tight with each other. But somehow it tends to fall into Max or Charles‘ hands instead of mine.”

Introspective as the Spaniard can be, he explained why he faltered on Saturday and could only manage P3, “It was a good lap. Clean all the way until the last chicane. There, probably I overcooked a bit the tires going in and it cost me quite a bit of lap time.”

Read More: Alpine Leaves a Peculiar Reply to Pierre Gasly’s Rumors

Irrespective of how bitter-sweet 2022 has been for Sainz, he has already set his sights on 2023 and what he needs Ferrari to do to beat Red Bull next season.

Carlos Sainz demands Ferrari execute “perfect weekends” if it wants to beat Red Bull in 2023

Ferrari can sum up their 2022 campaign with just one word, ‘inconsistent’. However, Carlos Sainz knows exactly what Ferrari needs to do , if they want to win the championship next season.

He began his master plan for 2023 by saying, “I think winning one race before the end of the season would give us a lot of good feelings and motivation going into next season because it’s been a while since our last win.”

He then went on to explain, “Winning would mean executing our perfect weekend and that is also what we will need. What we want as Ferrari is to win races, prepare ourselves for next year, keep learning keep, keep executing perfect weekends where it builds the confidence and brings more wins for Ferrari.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Understanding the Drama Behind Ferrari & Mercedes’ Budget Cap Battle Against Red Bull

Can Ferrari win before 2022 ends?