Sainz experienced “a rollercoaster of emotions”

One second from the Grail. Sunday, Carlos Sainz finished the Italian Grand Prix in the exhausts of Pierre Gasly and narrowly missed the first victory of his career. Disappointed with his performances and frustrated by his bad luck since the start of the season, the Spanish driver took the opportunity to find a big smile again.

He narrowly missed out, after a thrilling race. Sainz first achieved the perfect takeoff while passing Valtteri Bottas at the beginning. Quiet second, he thought about winning when Lewis Hamilton received ten seconds of penalties. But at the same time, a poorly timed red flag relegated him to sixth place for the second start.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions.” commented Carlos Sainz after the race. “At the time of the red flag I was feeling bad, I was disappointed and I thought I had lost my chance of victory, and maybe the podium. »

The black cat had just gotten back into the car. “I had rage inside me, thinking about all the bad luck this season. I knew I had to start with a medium tire for four laps, which is not easy, and I knew that both Alfa Romeo in front of me were new soft tires. »

Like Lewis Hamilton, Antonio Giovinazzi received a penalty. “ Suddenly, I found myself fighting for the podium, but victory, with Pierre, knowing how fast they had been since the start of the weekend…. I knew it was going to be complicated if Pierre and Lance stroll made a good start. »

Then the Spaniard stopped thinking. “From the restart, I just turned my brain off, tried to do everything I could to concentrate and catch them both. I fought well with Lance and then with this tire which was not great, I pushed as much as possible to pass Pierre. I almost made it.”

Cold, Carlos Sainz put the result into perspective. “Of course I'm disappointed not to get the victory, because today we had a big pace and without the red flag the story could have been different. But after the red flag I managed to get back up very close to Pierre. So I'm happy with my second place. »

In terms of accounting, Sainz's podium and fourth place in Lando Norris allows to McLaren to consolidate its second place in the championship.