Carlos Sainz has finished the United States GP in an important second position. A result that allows Ferrari to complete a one-two that had been missing on American soil for eighteen years. This concludes a good weekend for Sainz, who had not been on the podium in eight races.
US GP: Sainz second after difficult first laps
Today Carlos Sainz managed to continue the good third place he obtained yesterday at the end of the sprint race. A weekend, the American one, that finally saw him shine again. Just what was needed, especially after two difficult weekends in Baku and Singapore, in which the Spaniard had two bad accidents. Instead, on American soil, Sainz made himself felt. First against Leclerc and Norris in the sprint on Saturday and, subsequently, also of Max Verstappen during the GP. And yet there was no shortage of unexpected events.
At the start, Sainz was unable to take advantage of the confusion caused by the fight between Norris and Verstappen for the lead. The Spaniard was only able to overtake Norris, who had gone off the track pushed by his Dutch rival. Furthermore, after having joined the latter, he was unable to find the overtaking position due to a problem with the power unit, which forced his Ferrari to slow down. Nothing was lost, however. Sainz, once the problem with his car was solved, stayed close enough to Verstappen to attempt the overcut during his first and only stop of the grand prix. Once he had rid himself of the number 1 Red Bull, the Spaniard held on to second place for the rest of the race.
Sainz happy with the car: “this year we attack much more”
In front of the cameras, Sainz was satisfied with his weekend in Texas, even though he was hoping for a victory after Saturday's sprint. However, as mentioned, not even the initial difficulties affected him, allowing him to return to the podium, which had been missing since the Austrian GP, 8 races ago.I knew that a large part of the race would be decided at the start and that Max and Lando would go hard. Unfortunately I had the worst of it in that situation and I couldn't take the lead.I was fast all weekend but I had to settle for second place. In any case, it is a good result, which It puts us exactly where we wanted for the constructors' championship".
Furthermore, just like Leclerc, Sainz also spent words of praise regarding the work done by the team on the car, which has improved a lot compared to last year, especially in terms of tyre management. “Clearly it is a strong point (tire management) of the car how long we can go on stints and how little degradation we have. This is something I really like and it made me enjoy the races more.. Last year we spent the whole race defending ourselves and losing positions. Instead, This year we attack much more without thinking too much about the tyres. Pushing and overcoming, which is more fun. I hope everything stays like this until the end of the year".
