From the breezy weather of Canada, we are out amid the sprawling setting of the Styrian Alps where twenty cars from the tens teams are keen to bring some sound of music.
But among the drivers out there, a certain Carlos Sainz Jr. would be really keen to waltz to a strong finish at one of the most picturesque racing turfs out there on the F1 calendar.
And one noted, a sense of desperation piling on from recent race results isn’t the only reason behind that fact.
Carlos Sainz’s last F1 career podium or as they say, the most recent in his Grand Prix racing career came at the Senna-land at the Interlagos in 2022, home to the Brazilian Grand Prix.
But the big question is, just how many of us even thought about that with much happening around this season and with Red Bull almost entirely dominating the proceedings so far thanks to the superlative form of Max Verstappen?
Forget wins, even the top three finish count for Ferrari currently amounts to a rather insignificant number. With there barely being any top three podium finishes from the eight rounds held prior to Austria, Ferrari have only managed a solitary top three finish all thanks to Leclerc.
While echoing the sentiment of his Monegasque teammate, Sainz admitted in the post-quali interaction at the Austrian Grand Prix that the general feeling and pace have felt better off lately, Sunday, it ought to be remembered, will be a brand new day for the Spaniard.
Max’s imposing speed out in front could bring further misery to the Ferrari camp. Or should Leclerc battle away and open a quick gap to Sainz, the driver in third place, it might well be the setting off early pressure for the Madrid-born driver.
At his end, truth is that Sainz has been far from splendid and as seen in the contests such as Bahrain, Miami and Spain, demonstrated quality pace albeit in patches.
The ability to put together successive laps with scintillating pace much like the good old fashioned Ferrari blitz have evaded Carlos Sainz’s grasp.
Fundamentally speaking, the best that we’ve seen from the part of a generally consistent and extremely handy driver has been his spell of top five finishes for Ferrari, such as the results bagged in the last few rounds.
Which is why it helps to refresh one’s memory that in the last five rounds, Sainz has managed to score a top five finish on four separate occasions with Monaco being the only dampener as also an exception.
He’d register a P5 at not only Azerbaijan but even Miami, Spain and Canada; the Monaco-bound contest culminated in a rather ordinary and sedate P8.
But where he stood third at the Interlagos, which, of course was last year, it’s now been nine races on the trot that the talented Spanish driver has gone podium-less.
This is bound to hurt. This, for all you know, may have displaced Sainz from his comfort zone.
However, that still doesn’t explain why the Ferrari driver needs to deliver a strong race finish here at the Red Bull Ring amid the scintillating backdrop of breaktakingly beautiful hills.
As a matter of fact, Carlos Sainz’s record at Austria is rather lukewarm.
Besides being the venue where he’s never previously scored a podium, which isn’t too brilliant, his personal best finish here leaves a lot to be desired.
The best result for Sainz at Spielberg has been the fifth he would manage with McLaren in 2020.
Remember the first two rounds of a Covid-marred season saw two races held albeit at the same venue in Austria.
In each of these races, Sainz scored a P5 and that’s been the best he’s garnered so far. But again, that was three years back in the day.
Last year, his race was snagged by a power unit issue. True to the sometimes cold and sometimes bitter but always constantly changing vagaries of the sport, while on the one hand a Ferrari stood on the top step of the podium, Leclerc enjoying a thoroughly deserved win, there was the other Ferrari of Sainz that had to come to a rude halt.
But again what happens in the past, remains in the past. Who knows what tomorrow, a brand new day, may bring?
And were Carlos Sainz Jr., is concerned, it might just bring a first podium of the year- provided he fights on consistently- if not a race win.