The Brazilian Grand Prix was quite a disappointment for Scuderia Ferrari. After crashing his car into the barriers due to a hydraulic problem, Charles Leclerc, who might have been the greatest hope of Ferrari as qualifying second place, was forced to retire the car before even the race had started. Carlos Sainz was the only one who could continue to present the team in Interlagos.
Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari
After getting off to a poor first start in the city of São Paolo, Sainz dropped from a net P6 to P8 as Russell and Perez got him.
Yet the 29-year-old was able to get the Mercedes drivers later in the race and got into the top six by the end of the 71 laps. He wasn’t too pleased with his final result, though.
Over the radio, he commented, “I just hope we bin this clutch, as soon as we’re back in Maranello.
The 2-time Grand Prix winner explained that he felt the clutch wasn’t working well from opening practice.
“Same as yesterday and same as every single start I have done this weekend.
“Very disappointed because it probably cost us some points in the cumulative of the weekend.
“We have a problem since the beginning of practice. We haven’t been able to really tune it and adapt it to the track. We’ve been struggling a lot with the getaways. It’s a shame.
The Spanish driver hopes this is a one-off issue as he believes starts have been a strong point this year.
“Hopefully, because we’ve been a very good starter all year — but since FP1, I quickly noticed we were struggling quite a lot.”
Sainz reduced Mercedes’ advantage by a couple of points in the constructors’ championship standings as he finished P6 to Hamilton’s P8, but he believes it could have been even more if the hydraulic problem that sent his teammate’s car into the barriers never happened.
“No [if he was concerned about his car after Leclerc’s problem]… well thank god nothing happened to me. It’s a shame because I think with Charles in the race, it would have been a great opportunity to take away points on Mercedes this weekend.
He finished behind two Red Bulls, a McLaren and two Astons as they struggled for pace.
“Also, the car pace wasn’t great either. Aston, McLaren and Red Bull were a bit in front, and we couldn’t fight them really.
“A missed opportunity I think.”
Heading into Las Vegas, Ferrari trail Mercedes by 20 points in the Constructors’ Championship.
