Carlos Sainz was one of the drivers who benefitted from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ collision at the Austrian Grand Prix and got third position.
After a brief squabble with Lewis Hamilton for P4 in the early laps as the Brit gave the place back after passing the Spaniard off track at turn 1, it was clear that the Ferrari’s pace was not strong enough to fight Russell for P3. But he benefitted from the clash between Verstappen and Norris to be briefly P2, before Piastri passed him on lap 65 on fresher tyres.
He expressed his satisfaction with his race and how they got the maximum out of it.
“Yeah, I think so. I think there was not much more in it this weekend. I think we did a good job yesterday in qualifying and in the sprint. And today, we set our targets in trying to beat the Mercedes.
“We managed to beat one, even if one of them got ahead. And then I was behind the two of them, passed Lewis, and then it was all about trying to keep up with George. But like we saw yesterday in the sprint, it just looked like they had this half-a-tenth to a tenth of pace advantage.
“That it’s these three, four, five seconds that he was in front the whole race. And yeah, I thought that was a battle for a podium, which he was going to win.
“And in the end, it became a battle for a win eventually. Yeah, we tried everything we could, but we know we’ve been struggling the last few races. And yeah, at the moment, Mercedes are a little bit quicker than us.“
The SF-24 has been unpredictable in terms of performance after their win in Monaco, Sainz explained how setting up the car is a struggle for them due to bouncing since their updates in Barcelona.
“In the race, it’s less of a problem because you carry less speed into those high-speed corners. The car rolls less and you have less bouncing as a consequence.
“But yeah, obviously, if you have it in quali, you have to set up the car differently for qualifying and then probably you pay the price in the race. So yeah, it’s not an ideal situation. It doesn’t make you good in quali and it doesn’t make you good in the race.
“We have been talking a lot about bouncing the last couple of weekends, which shows that it’s been a bit of an issue, but I believe there’s also other things that we need to improve in order to at least beat Mercedes in Silverstone and try to get back closer to McLaren and Red Bull.”
Sainz’s future in the sport remains UK own as he prepares to leave Ferrari at the end of this season.
He expressed how his approach to racing changed throughout this season, focusing on trying to get big results every weekend over thinking about his future.
“I’m focusing more on trying to get the podiums, trying to get the wins, trying to get the highlights, rather than on the championship because it’s not easy to compete against the best guys in the world, going up against them with one race less in the season.
“But yeah, so far, I think I’ve done five podiums out of ten races, one race win. It’s a very good statistic. I think I’m driving well this year.
“And yeah, I’m focusing on enjoying the opportunities that I have this year to fight for podiums that I might not have them next year. So I’m going to give everything and enjoy these opportunities and these moments like today in the podium.”
He underlined how crucial it is to enjoy the moments they have in a front running car as the likelihood of Sainz heading to a team trying to just get in the points next year is unbelievably high.
“As I said before, for sure that pressure, I’m not going to receive it on a Sunday afternoon after a podium we are keen to enjoy.
“I think it’s sometimes, like George was saying, we take it for granted when we’re on one of these podiums, celebrating, wearing a Ferrari suit, and I was thinking, try to enjoy this moment because who knows when it’s going to be the next time in the future.
“So as much as maybe there are some teams that are nervous or pressuring me, it’s time for me also to enjoy this moment of being on a podium.
“And I’m going to be honest and straightforward with the teams, but it’s such an important decision for me also that I’m going to take all the time that I need to take it.
“And if there’s teams that cannot wait or are a bit impatient, I cannot do anything about it. It’s going to be my future, my decision, and I’m going to try and be as honest as possible with everyone and give myself the time that I need.“
