Carlos Sainz revealed that his victory in Mexico was an “extremely emotional” milestone in one of his final races with Ferrari before he departs for Williams in 2025.
Starting from pole, Sainz initially lost the lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. However, a Safety Car was quickly deployed in response to a collision between Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon further down the grid, which effectively neutralised Verstappen’s effort to build a gap.
Sainz lunged past Verstappen after the restart, regaining the lead on Lap 9. Both Ferrari drivers capitalised on the Verstappen-Norris skirmish that unfolded in the early stages of the race, which allowed Leclerc to overtake and Sainz to pull away unchallenged for a Ferrari 1-2.
The Ferrari duo went on to finish on the podium, although a charging Norris ultimately managed to split the drivers, snatching second place from Leclerc after a high-speed wobble late into the race.
With this latest win, Ferrari have now pipped Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings, sitting just 29 points behind McLaren.
Speaking in the press conference after the race, Sainz admitted the victory felt “really special” for him.
“I felt like this weekend was going to be a very good opportunity to win that race,” he said.
“I had a very good feeling coming into the weekend. Also, obviously very determined to win it. I knew coming into it that we might have a chance to win. And I’ve been focused, been on it all weekend.
“On top of that, I knew my family was coming and my best friends, my girlfriend, a lot of people were here to support me. And I said maybe destiny has something ready for me this weekend, that my maybe last win with Ferrari can come in front of them with all the support that I had from them all this year and in a great podium, a great place like Mexico City. I’ve been driving well and I made it stick and you cannot imagine how happy and proud I am right now.”
Sainz was joined on the podium by his race engineer, Riccardo Adami. He named the win in Mexico City as one of the highlights of his career to date.
“It was extremely emotional,” he confessed.
“I did shed a tear, you know, in the Spanish anthem. For sure it’s one of the best moments in my career. My mum had never been present on a race win with me, and the fact that she was coming here this weekend, I wanted really to win a race in front of her.”
Reflecting on the race, Sainz explained that having to snatch the lead back from Verstappen after initially losing it at the start added an extra layer of satisfaction as he felt the win was hard-fought.
“On top of that, the way the whole weekend planned out, it was just perfect. And with that move… Losing at the start and then having to fight back with Max just made everything a bit more tricky. Probably makes it taste even better because I had to work hard for it. And to do this weekend in front of all of them was incredible.”
Aware of Red Bull’s strength on low-grip tracks, Sainz anticipated Verstappen might draw alongside him heading into Turn 1.
“Yeah, I didn’t get a good start, but at the same time, I think Max tends to start very well,” Sainz said.
“Max and Red Bull on low-grip tracks and [Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez] is very low grip. And whenever there’s low grip, the Red Bull tends to start really well. So I was kind of prepared also for a scenario where Max was going to go alongside me into Turn 1, I braked as late as I can break, and he brakes as late as me, and I had no space to go into Turn 2.
He continued: “And from then on, I didn’t lose my head, and I knew that every half opportunity that I got to the lead back, I would try and do it. And with Max, you need to be determined, you need to be decisive. If you’re not, you’re never going to pass him.
“I think I caught him a bit by surprise and I could make it stick. (…) I was quite far back but before Turn 1 I got a really good tow on DRS. I saw that I was probably going to be a bit too far back, but then right in the last 100 metres, I felt like I had a good momentum. I’ve been feeling very confident braking into Turn 1 this weekend. The car has been giving me good confidence to brake late there and I just went for it and it happened.”
Sainz admitted that he benefited from “this mentality of knowing I had a bit less to lose in that battle and that I could be aggressive.”
He added: “High tension at that point also because then that initiated a fight behind me that nearly got me involved also from what I heard. So it was an exciting moment of the race.”
Asked if he’d encountered any issues on his way to victory, Sainz clarified that, although “scary” in the moment, the misfire he reported during the race turned out to be an “isolated” incident, a byproduct of racing at this peculiar, high-altitude circuit.
“Isolated, completely, yeah,” he said.
“The only misfire I had all race was at the exit of Turn 3. Landing after the kerb, I did a little short shift and it gave me a misfire, which was a bit scary, but we’ve had them during the weekend and we know it’s due to the altitude and the mapping. But once I was in the lead, I was trusting my pace, my management, and I knew this weekend I’ve been very quick and I knew I just had to do whatever I had planned and the win was possible.”
Sainz noted the threat from Norris, but stated that he’s pleased Ferrari managed to add another point to their tally through Leclerc’s fastest lap: “Towards the end, McLaren and Lando proved that they are still fast and they’re still very quick and very difficult to beat, but I’m glad that we got fastest lap with Charles and a lot of points for the championship.”
The Spaniard also provided insight into his agitated radio communication, in which he cautioned against “pushing too hard.” Leclerc had been instructed to lift and coast for the majority of his race.
“I felt like it,” Sainz said. “And that’s why at the time in the heat of the battle and the moment, I obviously opened the radio to give my opinion about the situation. I felt like potentially, especially after being 1-2, which was a dream scenario, and exactly where we wanted to be after Turn 1. It happened a bit later, but in the end it happened.
“I felt like the ideal was to obviously make it to the target lap and keep our tyres alive. So I gave that opinion in the heat of the battle, but honestly, I also understand why Charles was there behind and trying to speed me up, because that’s what you do when you’re P2 and when you also want to win. Racing situations, heat of the battles, heat of the moment, but nothing that has never happened before, also from my side, so I completely get it.”
Asked about the upcoming round in Brazil—the final race of the late-season triple header—Sainz stated that he’s determined to savour and celebrate his Mexico victory before considering his next challenge.
“Please let me enjoy Mexico before I think about Brazil, because I’m going to enjoy tonight. As I said, I want to enjoy this one. I want to let it sink in and enjoy. I think from now on we can dream and dream about the championship, dream obviously about the Constructors’ and yeah, we can think about Brazil tomorrow. Today’s time to enjoy.”
Ferrari’s stellar run of form has sparked hope for an unexpected title bid, with the Italian squad becoming surprise contenders in what initially appeared to be a two-way battle between McLaren and Red Bull. Sainz confirmed both he and Leclerc are feeling increasingly optimistic about Ferrari’s chances, but acknowledged that McLaren can’t be discounted.
“I think we both believe it is possible and we are actually talking about it more and more often now,” Sainz said.
“(…) I think one of the keys is going to be consistency and having the two drivers always up there. This weekend we did a really good job on that on a tricky track where you could see Q1 and Q2 was a bit of chaos and anything could go right or wrong. So we just need to keep ourselves in that fight. And as Charles said, don’t get obsessed with it because it’s not like it depends only on us. We also—given how fast McLaren is, depend a bit on them.”
