Carlos Sainz finished fifth in France, turning a difficult weekend into a spectacle. The Spaniard became Driver of the Day and enjoyed it. Afterwards, the Ferrari driver said he was happy with the result.
Carlos Sainz finished fifth in France, turning a difficult weekend into a spectacle. The Spaniard became Driver of the Day and enjoyed it. Afterwards, the Ferrari driver said he was happy with the result.
Sainz had to fit new parts to his F1-75 in France due to its broken engine in Austria, for which he received a grid penalty. With his teammate Charles Leclerc abandoning, Sainz returned to the race under the Virtual Safety Car. He did not make it to the podium, but a P5 was more than enough to earn him the Driver of the Day title.
The problems and chaos at the Ferrari pit wall and pit lane did not help Sainz. There was uproar on the team radio, as both the team and the driver disagreed about the timing of the pit stop.
Sainz had already received a five-second penalty during his previous pit stop, when he was sent back onto the track by his team in an unsafe manner. Alexander Albon managed to avoid the Spaniard by braking hard.
Sainz told Viaplay, "It was a shame with the penalty and the slow pit stop. Because we were making a good comeback, a good recovery. It was very good in terms of pace. P5 with the fastest lap is the perfect race."
"Possibly we would get a podium, but it is also important that we have a good race. We need to be happy because the car was good to drive. My feeling in the car was good, but in the pitwall we have much more data than I have to make a decision," the Ferrari driver added.