F1 | Sainz: “From surgery to winner. Life is a roller coaster”

From surgery to… Smooth Operator is a moment. In fact, it's 2 weeks and 58 laps. Carlos Sainz brought Ferrari back to victory, taking home victory at the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship.

By now Carlos has grown to like it. Last year he prevented Red Bull from winning every race of the season by taking home victory in Singapore. This year he repeated himself in Melbourne and did so in precarious physical conditions, after 2 weeks in which he tried to recover from the surgery he suffered in Jeddah 2 weeks ago for appendicitis which made him miss the race in Saudi Arabia.

From a hospital bed to the top step of the podium, with the icing on the cake coming on the second lap thanks to the key overtaking on Max Verstappen (who later retired due to brake failure on his RB20). The rest was tire management, excellent pace and a victory that had never been more deserved.

“It was a good race,” declared the Madrid native at the end. “I always felt very good, even if I'm a bit stiff to tell the truth, it wasn't very easy from a physical point of view. But I was always able to manage the pace, the tyres. It was a tough race but I'm happy and proud of the work done by the team and I'm proud to have won with Charles second, because this shows how much work we've done and how crazy life is. I didn't see myself renewing my contract with Ferrari, then I took the podium in Bahrain, then the appendicitis in Jeddah and the victory upon returning. A rollercoaster, but I'm very happy. At this point I recommend everyone to have appendicitis surgery… (jokes)”.

Sainz immediately understood that he had the opportunity to try the attack on Verstappen. “On the first lap I had the impression that I could stay close to Max and then use the DRS from the second lap, because it is very effective here.”

“At the beginning of the second lap, Max lost ground between turns 2 and 3. At that point I tried to overtake and as soon as I passed him I saw that he started to have brake problems. I was very disappointed, because I imagine it would have been a good fight with him on the track for the victory, but I'm happy for the victory. Max has already won a lot! I'm happy to be back on the top step of the podium.”

Since Free Practice 3 Sainz knew he had a very competitive pace. Overtaking Max and retiring him after a few kilometers allowed the Madrilenian to manage his SF-24 perfectly and the absence of red flags did the rest.

“I would say that I understood that I could win from the second lap. Already yesterday I understood that I had the pace and that I could manage the tires in the best way. There was always the risk of a red flag or a Safety Car. I always had in mind, because here in Melbourne it can always happen. I'm very sorry for George (Russell, author of a bad accident at turn 6 on the last lap, ed.), I hope he's well. I thought it was a bad blow. But winning , getting to the end… it was beautiful.”