The red tide of Imola witnessed a black day for the Ferrari drivers today. Carlos Sainz ended his race at the first corner, silted up after a contact with Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren.
The Madrilenian expressed his anger to Motorsport.com for not even being able to fight for a good result: “It's definitely not an easy time. I was keen to do this race in the wet after feeling comfortable all weekend, but for some reason I didn't have any luck this weekend."
“It's been two consecutive races that I haven't been able to complete more than two laps and this is a penalizing thing. I wish I could spend more time behind the wheel of the car, but this is the sport. In these moments you have to stay positive and think about working aware that luck will turn”.
The #55 has no doubts about the fault of the accident: “At the second corner, Ricciardo lost his car on the curb and threw me out. I had left enough space for him."
However, he also blames himself and his teammate Charles Leclerc for another aspect: "We got off to a bad start, and this is an aspect that we must also analyze in relation to what the others did, but the race was only at the beginning and positions could be recovered”.
The Monegasque, chasing second place from Sergio Perez for most of the race, spun at the Variante Alta a few laps from the end, damaging the wing and finishing in sixth position, on a weekend in which title rival Max Verstappen moved back to second place in the drivers' standings thanks to a perfect weekend, in which he scored 34 points out of the 34 available.
The number 16 explains today's misstep as follows: “Honestly this season I rode very well from the first race until the mistake which cost me 7 potential points. Third place was absolutely within our reach today, but by finishing sixth I lost 7 points which could be important in terms of the championship".
Charles, then, does not hide behind any alibi: “The mistake was solely my responsibility. There are no excuses. On that lap I had the opportunity to move up to second position, but I was asking too much. I brought too much speed and lost the car. I'm really disappointed and sorry for the whole team who did a great job and for our fans."
Finally, he also finds a moment to congratulate Red Bull for the step forward made during the Italian weekend: “We struggled a lot today compared to Red Bull on both the intermediate and slick tyres. They were fast right away. In general, they took a step forward this weekend, while we struggled more both yesterday and today in tire management. The front right, even today, made me struggle. We have to analyze everything and we have to improve. Red Bull is a team that always manages to bring developments over the course of the season. We have to stay on track because they will be able to make great progress".
