Sainz 'very disappointed' after nightmare Abu Dhabi weekend

Carlos Sainz has rued a "very disappointing" end to his 2023 Formula 1 season, after failing to score points in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It was a difficult weekend for the Ferrari driver after he suffered a crash in FP2, before being eliminated in the first part of the qualifying session on Saturday.

Lining up P16 on the grid left him with a lot of work to get back into the points, with Ferrari opting to put him on the alternate strategy which involved benefitting from a Safety Car.

This did not happen, forcing him to pit for his mandatory stop and causing him to drop outside of the top ten. He would eventually retire the car on the final lap, being classified in 18th place.

Sainz: Last two weekends have not gone like I expected

Sainz had several high points during the 2023 season, notably being the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race in Singapore.

When asked about his form in the final two races, Sainz told media, including RacingNews365: "The last two weekends has not gone like I expected or like we wanted to finish the year.

"Honestly, very disappointed and obviously not happy, given how close it was in the end with the Constructors' Championship.

"But we're gonna have to sit down, analyse, see what we could have done better today and what was going on.

"Clearly the pace this weekend and the overall feeling with the car and everything was off."