Carlos Sainz says the clutch problem faced was only during F1 Brazil GP weekend as he notes having had good starts in the year.
While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had his car stopped even before the start of F1 Brazil GP, teammate Sainz did not have a good getaway as he complained on the radio. The second re-start was still fine but post-race, he noted having clutch issues since FP1.
It seemingly was majorly a problem in Brazil GP weekend only as Sainz stated that he generally has had good starts this year. He hopes it was just some parts issue rather than a larger problem which he kind of escaped from happening as Leclerc did.
“It was the same as Saturday and the same as every single start that I’ve done in Brazil weekend,” said Sainz to media. “I’m very disappointed because it obviously cost us probably some points cumulative of the weekend. We had a problem since the beginning of practice.
“We weren’t able to really tune it and adapt it to the track and we have been struggling a lot with getaways and it’s such a shame. Hopefully yes, it is just a parts issue as I have had good starts all year but since FP1 I quickly noticed that I was struggling a lot. But Thank God nothing happened to me [like Leclerc’s problem].
“It’s a shame because I think with Charles in the race it would have been a great opportunity to take away points from Mercedes. But also, the car pace wasn’t great either. So, Aston Martin, McLaren and Red Bull were up in front, and we couldn’t fight them really much. A missed opportunity, I think,” summed up Sainz.
Team boss Vasseur acknowledged the issue that Sainz faced which he felt could be due to Interlagos’ positioning where the drivers are on a slope. “On the first start, he had a poor start. The second one went well,” he said. “We need to understand exactly what happened on the first one, but it was not a mega start.
“We are struggling a little bit with the starts. Obviously, if you have a look, it’s marginal but the second one went pretty well. Interlagos is also a bit more difficult because you’re starting with your position a little bit on a hill.”
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