David Coulthard was a former McLaren driver and Red Bull driver. He picked Carlos Sainz up to interview him after he had finished second. He had just matched the result last year, which saved Ferrari's furniture (who brought out the Stratego with Leclerc again) and relieved him of the pressure. He had fought Sergio Perez for victory, and he said that he would be a candidate in any circumstance.
"We did everything we could, we were patient with the wet tires, and then changed to dry tyres before we started changing... but I was left behind by a lapped car that cost me the win. It is understandable that I was frustrated. A good lap out the pitlane would have won me the win, but sometimes it is like this, he said. Nicholas Latifi refers to the bent Sainz mentions in this situation.
The sequence can be clearly seen in the video from Sainz's Ferrari 'onboard'. The Spaniard comes out of the pits and Williams, a Canadian driver, is already on the track with a lost lap. He overtakes him. He was not left behind. Despite being shown seven blue flags by stewards, Latifi returned the tire to him before the tunnel. Sainz had to venture out into the dirt (and wet) zone of the track to get it back. This caused him to attempt a spin. It is possible to say that the incident with Latifi could have cost Perez the win. Perez won by a narrow margin of 2.3 seconds, and Sainz arrived in better condition.
This is the third problem Sainz has to deal with when he chooses victory. Even though things work out in the end for some, and without taking away any merit from the Mexican's Numantine defense of his race, Perez was able to benefit from a rider who has been repeatedly criticised for being ineffective. Lewis Hamilton fans won't forgive him for the incident he had on 2021 Abu Dhabi GP's penultimate lap. This caused a race stoppage and ultimately benefited Max Vertappen. Tsunoda, Stroll and Latifi are considered dangerous for the rest.
Sainz demonstrated that he is still able to pull the fire out of Ferrari's fire, despite this incident. The team was taken on its back by the Spaniard after the huge mistake they made on the pit wall against Leclerc. Leclerc had in his hands a win that would have been both emotional and pure sporting.
He was even willing to defy the radio orders and risk mounting dry tires without going through the trance caused by the rainy intermissions. Riccardo Adami was his engineer who accepted the decision. It is hard to fault Sainz's personality in every race, when he has it and when it doesn't.
Carlos Sainz is fifth in the general classification after seven disputed races. He is one point behind the champion of regularity, George Russell, who continues to count the grand prizes won by 'top five'. Although it is not the ideal result, the two consecutive zeros Sainz has in his box make it difficult to lift.
You can make a good return on your next appointment even if it is not a 100% urban circuit. Baku's Azerbaijan GP is described as a place where mistakes are paid with abandonment. That narrow area near the 13th-century castle may be Sainz's now yes' but he must be careful. Ferrari is falling into his inbred schizophrenia and will need his calm and tempo'. Sainz is aware of the fact that planning does not mean being bound to a schedule that can fail based on statistics. Was the Spanish GP not the best place to be?
