F1 | Sainz: “Unlucky with the Safety Car, I could have won”

It wasn’t the race Carlos Sainz dreamed of, especially because in the space of a few meters the prospects changed radically. At the start, in fact, the Ferrari driver managed to overtake his teammate to take second place, with the possibility of actually challenging for the podium. However, a very delayed attack by Sergio Perez in turn one forced Sainz to give up two positions, both to Leclerc himself and to Oscar Piastri, who did well to take advantage of the confusion to move into third place.

Sainz remained a spectator in the duel between his teammate and the Australian from McLaren, always remaining in fourth position. Although he believed he had a better pace than the two riders in front of him, given that the difference in pace was not enough to break the DRS train and overtake at least one of the two, from a certain moment on he attempted to break away, save the tires and lengthen the first stint, so as to be able to run on fresher rubber in the second half of the race.

However, it is precisely at this juncture that Sainz’s regrets emerge, because with a few more laps the scenarios of his race could have been completely different. Although it should be noted that in the laps preceding the entry of the Safety Car Norris actually had a very convincing pace, in fact if Sainz had delayed the stop by a couple of laps, then there would have been the possibility of finding himself in the lead of the race as happened for the British driver from McLaren.

Sainz in fact stopped at the end of the twenty-seventh lap together with Oscar Piastri, who was still in front of him at that moment, while the safety car made its entry on the following lap.

“I think everyone fought very hard today. On the first lap Perez arrived, as they said in the past, like a rocket into turn one, and he almost hit us. There I lost two positions which cost me a lot in general terms during the race. I was quite fast, I also tried to manage and save the tyres”, said Sainz at the end of the race, adding how just one lap could have changed his race.

“I missed the right moment to stop with the Safety Car like Norris for a lap, which could have given me the victory.”

Clearly, with hindsight, certain episodes are seen from a different perspective and regrets emerge. But with a second part of the race still to be written, Sainz immediately attempted to overtake Piastri, even coming into contact at the last corner after losing the rear when braking. The episode cost the Australian from McLaren dearly, because he damaged his front wing and was thus forced to return to the pits: this maneuver is currently under investigation by the stewards.

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Obviously I’m frustrated about the start because with that episode we ended up off the track and it made us lose positions, losing time from Max and Charles who remained in front. I saw that today the stewards were not aggressive with the penalties, so I tried to be aggressive to find the overtaking and finish in fourth position.”

“We had two contacts today. One because it pushed me off the track, one because when trying to attack outside the ideal line when braking, I came to a slight lock on the rear axle and lost the rear a bit. I don’t know what damage there was, but I was quite fast at the end, I had the same pace as Lando,” added Sainz.

Finally, the Madrid native also spent a few words on Norris, a former teammate at the time of McLaren who today achieved his first ever victory in Formula 1. Sainz admitted that the Briton was lucky in terms of timing, but also that he absolutely deserves this triumph, which he hopes will only be the first of many: “I think he deserved to win a race for a long time. I believe he is a driver who will win many races in F1, he is driving at an exceptional level. Today he was lucky, but luck comes to people who deserve it. Today he certainly deserved to win.”