(Motorsport-Total.com) — Lewis Hamilton, of all people, has commissioned Carlos Sainz for a chance at a better place in the Styria Grand Prix. Although Spielberg’s Ferrari driver was very satisfied with the sixth place, it would have been a better place if he had not let Hamilton hold him back.
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Carlos Sainz had a long time with Lewis Hamilton
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“We played a very strong first job at the middle level and practically crossed the entire midfield,” said Sainz, who only started from 12th. “Then there was this really weird scenario.”
After changing his only tire on lap 41, Sainz traveled on a new solid and tried to catch Lando Norris’ McLaren with a clear track. “I knew I could catch him, but suddenly I found myself behind Luis,” said the Spaniard. At the time, the Briton was using much older tires and had problems with speed.
“I doubted for five or ten laps whether I should follow him and try to catch Lando. Then I noticed that Lewis had tire problems and I was significantly faster,” he says. “Then I had to turn back, but by that time it was too late to catch up with Blando.”
Sainz praises: Mercedes ‘gentlemen’
Sainz doesn’t know if lap hesitation cost him a place, but at least it would have cost him a good fight. In the end, the Ferrari driver was seven seconds behind his former teammate.
Looking back, this leaves him a bit disappointed because a lot of work in getting past his midfield has already been done. “And then I had new tires to catch my Lando – and suddenly I’m 15 laps behind Lewis and break my tires trying to get into the DRS window to see if for some reason he can take me off.”
This came in effect without much resistance from the British. “They behaved like real gentlemen, as always with Mercedes,” Sainz praised. “They let me pass, but it was a little late.”
Happy return to France
But Sainz can still live well with sixth place – especially after the performance from France: “This is a great comeback,” he says and sees the pace as the top of his midfield. “Sometimes we were as strong as [Sergio] Perez at Red Bull “his conclusion:” It was a very positive day for the team.”
However, for the upcoming weekend, the signs are not so good, as tire manufacturer Pirelli is offering softer tires for the second race at Spielberg. “Right now, the stiffer the frame, the better,” says Sainz. Because Ferrari has yet to find all the answers from the Le Castellet disaster.
“But at least today we didn’t have any problems with the tires and were able to drive the race we wanted. We still have to find out what happened in qualifying because it’s strange that we were stronger in the race than we were in qualifying. That’s not usually the case.”
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