Carlos Sainz views F1 Russian GP as a perfect one with Ferrari after another podium, as Charles Leclerc was left disappointed in the end.
On paper, it has been a solid first year at Ferrari for Sainz, as he sits sixth with 112.5 points to Leclerc’s 104. He has secured three podiums too, which is already one more than he did with McLaren in the two-year tenure.
While the stats show the good side, it hasn’t been a 100 percent smooth drive, as Sainz has had multiple incidents – much like Leclerc. Fortunately, it hasn’t come in a competitive race session for him, which has helped in securing the decent points haul.
In Russia, Sainz qualified on the front-row in second alongside former teammate Lando Norris. He passed him at the start and led the way comfortably for few laps, until he was passed by the Brit. The Spaniard still was in the podium fight.
In dry it looked a bit dicey for Sainz considering tyre degradation, but the rain eventually helped him when Ferrari pitted him on time to secure third place finish. Post-race, he labelled it as the best weekend he had with the Italian manufacturer.
“It’s a good moment, of course, it’s been a challenging year, obviously, changing teams and adapting to a completely new car with a completely new team but so far this year, obviously three podiums is not bad at all,” said Sainz. “This weekend, I think, was probably my best weekend as a Ferrari driver.
“I managed to put together a very strong lap in qualifying, a good start, a good pace management in the race so yeah, hopefully I can keep improving, There are still a lot of things to work on, mainly the tyre management side and obviously a bit the top speed there to make sure we are not so vulnerable when we are leading a grand prix because I want to make sure next time I have the opportunity to lead a grand prix, I am not suffering that much with the front tyres.
“And that we are not so vulnerable on the straights and as Ferrari, we need to keep working to be a team that we want to be, that is winning races and today we got the opportunity to lead but we didn’t make it stick, to win the race so yeah, next time I really want to enjoy that and try and make it stick,” summed up Sainz.
He was then asked to elaborate on his start when he overtook Norris for the lead. “I got the best possible start on the dirty side – I mean we know here the dirty side has quite a big disadvantage from the clean side, so I think both Lewis and I got away pretty decently, just I think it was Lando, George and Daniel who were just flying off the line – everyone on the left-hand side were flying, a bit like last year basically,” said Sainz.
“I managed to get side-by-side with George and then we were nearly banging wheels to see who was the one catching Lando’s tow. In the end I ended-up, when Lando drifted a bit to the right, that gave me that extra bit of tow, I managed to get good momentum and brake really late into Turn 2 around the outside and make it stick?
“I think I said on Saturday that I was going to try, and I had to try on Sunday, it worked well. It’s probably one of the first times in my career I can lead a race into Turn 2, and I had to try. It worked well, and then unfortunately the graining came, the fuel saving, the graining, then everything went a bit more complicated than expected but leading into Turn 2 was the target and we achieved it,” summed up Sainz.
While the Spaniard had his moment of glory, teammate Leclerc eventually had to sacrifice in a way. He also had a moment like Norris in the wettest part of the circuit. But the Monegasque couldn’t pit on the lap he was thinking to do so, because Sainz had the first right to pit considering he was ahead on the road.
Leclerc had a solid race up until then, where he carved his way through the field in the Top 10. Even a storming start from 19th to 13th didn’t satisfy him, having finished outside the points. “The lap I had the doubt whether to stop, it was Carlos’ turn to stop as he was in front and he had the right to choose it, so basically, it was a bit late for me to change the tyres in my opinion and the lap after it was already too wet,” he said TV media.
“At the beginning of the rain, it was good and we were competitive but when it was too wet, it was too late. It is a shame and difficult to take as in the first part, we were quite competitive, with lots of overtaking and to finish like this is disappointing. As for the start, I can’t really see the positives as from my side, it was disappointing eventually.”
Here’s Carlos Sainz on radio after P3: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-russian-grand-prix-thrilled-sainz-reacts-to-his-p3-finish.1712062395944222545.html
Here’s Charles Leclerc’s storming start: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.onboard-leclerc-gains-seven-places-in-lap-1-charge-in-russia.1711969786196308578.html
Here’s Carlos Sainz clarifying his comments on Rubens Barrichello