Carlos Sainz says it is same for drivers catching to complain after George Russell’s radio call in F1 Mexico GP, as the duo add about their races.
In the first part of the F1 Mexico GP, Ferrari’s Sainz was comfortably ahead of Mercedes’ Russell but the red flag brought them together where the Brit was chasing him for fourth while Lewis Hamilton chased Charles Leclerc for second at the same time.
The latter managed to get through Leclerc for second, but Russell was unable to get pass Sainz despite multiple attempts. That included radio complains from the Brit about the Spaniard moving under braking which is against the rules of engagement.
“The rules are pretty clear,” said Russell. “It wasn’t aggressive or a substantial movement, but it was clearly moving. Once he braked he was moving to sort of cover me, and when you’re braking from such high speeds, it’s very easy to lock up, but no concerns on that one.”
From Sainz, he played down the matter while noting that he moved before the braking which is not a problem and that it is normal for drivers chasing to complain. “I was moving once and right before braking, which is what the rules allow, you cannot move under braking, but you can move right before braking, and that’s what I’m doing,” he said.
“I think it’s the same as always really, when you’re behind you open the radio, you complain, you see if the guy in front gets a warning or a five second penalty because it benefits, but I think it’s the same as always, everyone does it, George does it a lot,” summed up Sainz, who reckoned the pace just wasn’t there for Ferrari.
He finished fourth but noted that it wasn’t degradation which troubled them. “Looking at the pace that Max and Hamilton it was honestly a matter of time they finished ahead or in front,” said Sainz. “They simply are a lot quicker than us in race pace, like we kind of expected going into the race they have some extra pace in there and we had to manage a lot of temperatures.
“I had a weird stint on mediums that I struggled with a front tyre that was great almost in the formation lap, so we will have to do our look at that one. But then once we put the hards on I think we were just following the pace of the car that this weekend is what it was.
“We did not struggle with tyre deg. We just struggled with the race pace of the car. Once the tyres are in overheating, once tyres are more worn out, you don’t have the peak of a soft tyre helping you to turn the car, and on to with the traction, then our car is in a much weaker state, and that’s where the Merc and the Red Bull are a lot quicker,” summed up Sainz.
On the other hand, Russell dipped further and lost to Lando Norris for fifth. He came close to losing out to Daniel Ricciardo for sixth but held on. He said that his tyres dropped off once he left Sainz and the likely cause was overheating brakes.
“It was a race dictated by tyres once again,” said Russell. “The car felt really strong. Right behind Carlos, just couldn’t quite make the overtake. We had to back off because my brakes were overheating, as they were for many drivers. As soon as I backed off, I totally lost all the temperature in my tyres, and could never recover it.
“It was like driving on ice for the last 15 laps. A pretty miserable feeling and very lucky to finish P6. I’m not sort of too concerned though, because I know the reason for it. But it’s been two race weekends in a row for two different reasons: last week was the fuel, and I lost my tyres because I backed off to manage the fuel. This weekend it was the brakes. That’s at least some clarity.”
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