F1 | Sainz: “Too aggressive on Leclerc? I apologize, I was in chaos”

The sprint race of the Chinese Grand Prix was divided into two phases for the group fighting for the podium: one of waiting, the other of duels. Beyond the usual Max Verstappen, capable of recovering with a pace unattainable for anyone else, so much so that at times he lapped almost a second and a half faster than his rivals, behind him the fight for third position became alive less than five laps from the checkered flag.

After a period of waiting in which Carlos Sainz was trying to protect the tires from the initial effort, but without finding the opportunity to attack Fernando Alonso, a few laps from the end came the attempt to overtake with a nice maneuver on the outside of turn seven. The Ferrari driver seemed to have managed to gain position despite a slight contact, but his Aston Martin compatriot immediately responded aggressively into turn nine, extending the braking section with the consequence that both ended up wide, leaving the way clear for Sergio Perez.

The Mexican took advantage of this by flying towards the third step of the podium, while behind him the race heated up for the duel between Charles Leclerc and his teammate, defined as “beyond the limit” by the Monegasque driver. The most controversial episode was undoubtedly that of turn 14, where the Spaniard missed the apex, taking Leclerc wide. On the following lap the two battled again, with Sainz losing his car in turn 2, leaving room for his teammate, who then sprinted towards a fourth place finish.

“I gave everything, maybe even too much at the start trying to pass Verstappen at the end. I knew that if I had passed him, at that point I would have been fighting for the sprint victory”, explained the Ferrari driver at the end of the race, who in fact tried to fight with the Dutchman from Red Bull in the first laps of the race, trying also an attack on the outside of the hairpin, but without success.

After a waiting phase, an overtaking attempt came a few laps from the end, but from that moment Sainz's race almost crumbled, because that duel gave both Perez and Leclerc the chance to pass him, thus losing what was previously built.

“Behind Fernando I tried to manage the tire a bit. I had an opportunity to pass Fernando on the outside of seven towards the end of seven, but I think he was too optimistic in trying to re-pass me, he took me off the track, he made a move a little bit to the limit “.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“This damaged my car and took me into the dirt and ruined the tyres, at which point I slid backwards. Up to that point it was a solid race, unfortunately that episode cost us the race. After that movement with Fernando I had damage to the car, destroyed tires.”

Both during and after the match, Charles Leclerc remarked how Sainz was too aggressive in his defensive maneuvers, going over the limit. When asked for his point of view, the Spaniard apologised: “Does Charles say I was too aggressive? I have to look, but if he says yes, let's say yes. I apologize if I did something beyond the limit,” the Madrid native explained to Sky.

“But today we were all there fighting, making movements at the limit, I tried to do my best to keep the situation under control. It all started from the duel with Fernando, if that hadn't happened, that wouldn't have happened either.”