Rob Smedley: Sainz doesn't make big mistake like Massa at Ferrari

Carlos Sainz announced before the Bahrain Grand Prix that he would race conservatively. A remarkable statement for a racer, although Rob Smedley understands very well why a new driver of Ferrari would say that.

Huge pressure on Ferrari

Carlos Sainz drove his first race for Ferrari in Bahrain and after a good qualifying, the Spaniard was in with a good chance of scoring some points. Before the start of the race, Sainz said he wanted to take it easy and get used to the car. The former race engineer to Felipe Massa understands that tactic very well.

"The pressure cooker at Ferrari is not comparable to any other team. You are constantly in the spotlight. And when things unfold, they can unfold really quickly. The worst thing Sainz could have done now was to make a bold statement about how he was going to be number one status at Ferrari. If that doesn't work out then the pressure just mounts and you can hardly perform," Smedley says in the podcast F1 Nation.

Sainz learns from Massa

''When I look back at Felipe Massa his first season at Ferrari, he made the big mistake of thinking that he had to match Michael Schumacher, a seven-time world champion. In Massa's mind, he was going to match him and beat him. It wasn't until he got the right people around him that his feet got back on the ground. It's going to take a long time to beat him."

So while Smedley very much approves of Sainz's line of thinking not to get too carried away, he does however agree with presenter Tom Clarkson that Sainz shouldn't have said this before the race. "You should never show your weaknesses. He should have kept his powder dry," Smedley concludes.