Carlos Sainz: “Playing with Red Bull drivers is fun”

With Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) is probably the driver who benefited the most from this sprint race. Starting 5th, the Spaniard finished on the podium (3rd) of the sprint race thanks to a very successful first lap. Equipped with soft tyres, the ex-driver McLaren Doubled Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at turn 4, after having swallowed Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) from the start.

“I got off to a very good start, analyzed Sainz on the microphone of local idol Felipe Massa after the race. I had to do a good one because improving in this compartment is one of my goals for this second part of the season. Succeeding in it is obviously great for your confidence, it’s a real boost. After the first three corners, I wanted to attack and that's what I did. It was a little tense with Checo (Perez) and Max (Steps) but we did it, and playing with the Red Bull drivers is immediately more fun.”

After the big attacking phase, the Iberian also showed his defensive qualities. If he couldn't do anything to contain Verstappen's return, he sold his skin dearly to avoid being passed by a Sergio Perez with medium tires that were necessarily more efficient at the end of the race. “I really struggled with the software until the end, he reacted again. As soon as I saw that I was 0″7 ahead of Checo, I had to defend at the first corner, beyond that it was fine. Finally, I managed to keep him behind, often being on the limit at the first corner in my defenses. The pace was good, and the tire management too” he finally satisfied himself. 

An effective strategic choice

Should his perfect use of soft tires lead us to imagine that he will wear them again at the start of the Grand Prix on Sunday? Not necessarily. “Today, it was rather cold on the track, and that allowed the software to be more effective, he judged. Tomorrow (Sunday), at 14h (18 p.m. French time), that will be another story. But we did our calculations and it seems to have worked, so congratulations to the team. It was risky but it was the right choice.” 

However, the Ferrari driver cannot imagine having the pace to score the fourth podium of his season during the Grand Prix on Sunday. “I doubt it but you never know F1, he smiled. I'm going to keep the same approach, that is to say fly away as best as possible and stay aggressive in the first lap, like today. We’ll see what comes of it.” In any case, he will have the opportunity to take back big points in the drivers' championship from his teammate Charles Leclerc, only 7th this Saturday.  

Nice work 👊👊 That’s P3 and P7!@ Carlossainz55 and @Charles_Leclerc will be starting tomorrow's #BrazilGP in P3 and P6 respectively 👏#esseFerrari 🔴 # F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/HoF6VdCJPL

- Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) November 13, 2021