Carlos Sainz realised after 10-15 laps into the second stint that one stop was the way to go in F1 Italian GP, as he did his best to help Charles Leclerc.
While one Ferrari went on to win the F1 Italian GP at Monza, the other one aided the other by some bits to do so after finishing fourth in the order. In fact, Sainz went few laps longer in his first stint with the mindset of trying a one stop.
They were not sure then still as it was only after 10-15 laps into the second stint, was when they understood that it is a real possibility. But the first stint length set Sainz back in the order where he was stuck between McLaren and Mercedes in a train.
Even though Sainz ran second, he was eventually overtaken by both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to drop to fourth. “I think going into a race in the team we had hopes that it was going to be a very different Monza with a lot of graining and it was very tight between the one and two,” he said to media.
“And it was going to be all about what’s the best to the situation and what has the strategy to what we saw on track. I think we did a really good job as a team you know to get it right, win with one car. On my side, obviously, we stayed maybe five, six laps out too long because it cost me six, seven seconds of race time to stay out on a grained medium, thinking that the others that had stopped in lap 15 were going to a two-stop, and I was the only one on a one (pitstop).
“And then by the time I realized it was one, even for the guys that, especially for Charles, had pitted so early, I had lost too much race time. But anyway, congrats because I think we nailed the strategy and the weekend on a very tricky Monza and we came out with a win and a fourth. I think it was more or less 10-15 laps into the second stint that I realised the degradation was not huge on the hard.
“Then, as soon as the others stopped, actually, my tyres were almost gone [the crisis point prior to them recovering]. And for some reason, Charles and I went through a phase of high degradation on the hards. And then they miraculously recovered, and that’s what allowed us to go to the end.
“But there was a point when the others started boxing that the tyre was really in crisis, but then the last 10 laps, the tyre recovered, and we could keep a decent pace to the end,” summed up Sainz. He was also aware about Leclerc situation and he did all he could to help him.
He enjoyed the running overall in what will be his last time at Monza with Ferrari. “I was aware and I did my best to slow him down in one lap,” he said. “Then obviously, I was a second and a half quicker at that stage. So, around Monza, it is not like you can do much more than one lap. It’s been an incredible weekend for me.
“I’ve enjoyed it a lot, it’s a shame not to be on the podium, at the same time I feel like today was a bit of a coin toss, whether to stay out or not, get it right. Charles and I live together with the team, with me, if we wanted to be in that fight we probably would have needed to stay in the train with the cars ahead after the first pit stop and we just lost the chance of a podium there.
“But honestly very happy to see the team winning here this weekend, I wish I was up there with the podium with Charles, but I think he deserves the win more than anyone, so congrats,” summed up Sainz, who reckoned Ferrari were on par with McLaren at Monza, but he is not drawing any conclusion as yet.
“Yeah, we were in a genuine race with the McLarens,” said Sainz. “I think obviously here the tow makes a bit of a difference and I think I lost the tow around lap 15, when they box and I could really feel how slow you become without it. Then they formed a train of three cars and I was in the middle of nowhere with Lewis in my tow following my pace.
“But I genuinely think we were in the race with the McLarens, which was great to see. At the same time, it’s Monza and a very particular Monza. We will need to wait to see more normal tracks to see if this upgrade has really turned our season around and we’re going to fight for wins from now on or we are going to go back to what we saw in Zandvoort.”
Here’s Charles Leclerc, Frederic Vasseur on Italian GP win
Here’s how F1 Italian GP panned out
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