Carlos Sainz pulls it off in Austin: "We were able to prove what we were capable of"

Since its beginnings in Formula 1, Carlos Sainz scored points every time he finished a race – Sprint as well as Grand Prix – on the Circuit of the Americas, and this with no fewer than five different teams. Regular with Toro Rosso (7^e and 6^e), Renault (7^e, twice) and McLaren (8^e), Sainz culminated with two podiums in 2023 and 2024 at Classic Ferrari for sale (3^e and 2^e), while distinguishing himself in sprint racing (6^e and 2nd). He was no exception to the rule in this year's sprint: to the cheers of the crowd, the Madrilenian climbed onto his second podium of the season, after his success in Azerbaijan, thus continuing his fine Texan tradition.

Free practice was complicated for the driver. Williams : a technical problem with the gearbox only allowed him to complete nine laps. Despite this, the "Smooth Operator" managed to qualify his FW47 in 7th position for the Sprint, ahead of the two red cars of his former team.

The Madrilenian took advantage of the chaos of the sprint to secure his second podium with Williams

Starting cleanly, the No. 55 driver emerged unscathed from the chaos of the first lap, where incidents multiplied on all sides. He also took advantage of the collision between Fernando Alonso et Nico Hulkenberg, an incident which eliminated the double world champion and the two McLarens which collided in succession. We drove a really solid race, with a good pace. We knew the Ferraris would be fast behind us, but we kept control. It's a very good result for us." the Spaniard rejoices.

The former Ferrari driver took time to adapt to his new car, but now seems to have found his feet with the Grove stable. "We're a little luckier. Things weren't going our way before, it's been like that all season, but for the first time we were able to prove what we were capable of, he explains, relieved. Things are getting smoother, but I'm doing what I was doing in the first half of the season. I'm happy to be able to show what we're capable of. Yesterday in qualifying, today in the sprint... We're still lacking pace compared to the leaders, However, Sainz qualifies. However, we are still in the game and it is nice to see. »

After a complicated start to the weekend and a hectic sprint, Carlos Sainz was able to take advantage of the circumstances and confirm his consistency in Austin. Will he be able to extend this run of points in the main race of the United States Grand Prix this Sunday?

ALSO READ > Williams returns to the big leagues