Tag Archives: Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz was hugely frustrated after being forced to retire with brake issues after his impressive drive from the back of the field in Sochi.

From 20^th Sainz rose as high as seventh and destined to finish even higher when he suffered problems with the front left disc, which led to his retirement with just eight laps to run.

“We did such a great job after only doing 15 laps the whole weekend in the dry,” he said. “To turn up, start 20^th and be seventh, with a great rhythm, a great pace. It was looking good for P6 at the end. The whole race saving brakes, saving tyres, saving fuel, and still managing a good pace. I must be pretty happy and thank the team, because without them I wouldn’t have been out there today.

“Mixed feelings, but I’m a positive guy, and I’d like to keep the positives. With only 15 laps we were having a great pace. We were running P7 after starting last, if we had finished, we would have been heroes. It’s a shame.”

Sainz admitted he felt dizzy in the early stages of the race: “I’ll rest for a couple of days for sure. Today was demanding out there, especially the first laps, and mentally also it was quite a demanding weekend as you can imagine. We need a bit more luck to put everything together because the results are nearly coming.”

Carlos Sainz says he’s learned a lot from a busy Australian GP that saw him eventually finish ninth, despite a delay of over 30s in his pit stop.

The Spaniard, who also survived first corner contact, lost several positions when the team had trouble with the left rear corner.

“I’ve learned everything,” he said. “They put a lot of problems in front of me in this first race, 58 laps without a single rest, and with all that to finish ninth we have to be positive. I just look forward to Malaysia, because I think we can keep up the good work.”

Sainz admitted the pit stop delay was hugely frustrating.

“It was a tough moment, for us, for the whole team, not only for me. We were in a very good position, we were fighting a Red Bull, which was our target. We were doing a great job, all of us, until that point onwards all the race changed, and it was just a matter of bringing it home without problems. We struggled a lot with fuel consumption and everything. It was a shame because to be honest we couldn’t fight much for a position, we were very limited down the straights as we expected.”

Regarding his first corner contact he said: “It was a bit of a shame, because I did a great start, and was maybe a bit too optimistic into Turn One. But lesson learned, and we turn the page and go forward.”