Carlos Sainz Jr. had the full weight of Ferrari on his shoulders this weekend, at least as far as the fight for victory at the Canadian Grand Prix is concerned and he certainly did not disappoint. The second place obtained in the race left a bad taste in the mouth of him and the team, because everyone was aware that they had what it takes to make it.
The performance picture of the race was understood from the very first laps, with Sainz able to overtake compatriot Fernando Alonso in a few kilometers and to chase Max Verstappen. Both with Medium tires and, above all, with Hard tires, Sainz proved to be the rider with the best overall pace, but not so good as to pass the Red Bull RB18 of Max Verstappen on the track, author of yet another victory of the season.
According to Sainz, before the single Safety Car was allowed to enter the track, Max Verstappen could not have recovered all 9 seconds of disadvantage accumulated after the second pit stop.
“There was a chance to attack Max and win the race. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened without that last Safety Car. I talked to Max and he thinks he wouldn’t have caught me if the Safety Car hadn’t intervened. I think at that juncture I was making a good pace. After the Safety Car I can say that I gave everything. I want my first win much more than all the fans, all the people at home. I gave everything, risked everything, but to pass a Red Bull you have to have a lot of speed. Today we were faster than Red Bull, but not enough to pass on the track. “
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 2nd position
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Carlos confirms what was said before: Ferrari has no performance gaps vis-à-vis Red Bull. This weekend, however, in retrospect it is easy to understand how the mistake made at the last corner in the last attempt in qualifying cost the Madrid player so much.
“Today we don’t want anything from Red Bull. Just starting from the front. If I had started from the front today I would have gone away. Today I was faster than Max, I was always 1 or 2 tenths quicker than him, maybe 3 at the end. And “The first time in the whole year that I felt I was the fastest driver on the track and this is certainly very positive. One thing that helps me, which I take home, we are now going to Silverstone to continue with this trend”.
“The feeling is not good, because I wanted to win. It’s nice to be fast, to push the car to the limit on the whole track. I risked a lot, I was really on the limit. That’s why I feel a little better, but I’m not happy because the victory was really close and I was not able to grasp it “.
Until now, Sainz has often been more comfortable in qualifying than in the race behind the wheel of the F1-75. This weekend, however, things went differently. It must be considered that the qualifications were carried out on a wet track, therefore in a completely different situation compared to the track seen in the race, but in Montreal Carlos showed the best things over the course of the 70 laps.
“I have to understand why I manage to take a certain pace in the race while I can’t do the same in qualifying. Up until now I had missed more race pace than performance in qualifying, while this weekend it was the exact opposite. Yesterday I made a mistake at the last corner in qualifying, otherwise I would have started second. Today I felt really strong already on the lap on the grid. I immediately passed Alonso in the first laps and I felt I had pace. So I decided to push hard because I thought I had great potential. I want to repeat this on Saturday and I am the first one that I am working on this “.
“I believe in the world championship. I believe in it for myself, for Ferrari and also for Charles. I believe in it for everyone. The problem is that my approach is to go race by race. I made a comment 2 weeks ago saying that I don’t fight for the title, but it was misinterpreted. I meant that I watch race by race without thinking about the title. But every race I want to win. If that can lead me to the World Championship, great. If it will help Ferrari and Charles win the title, great. , but I want to be fast in the race and win all the races. This is how the World Cup is won “, concluded Sainz.
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