Carlos Sainz finished in the same position he started the Japanese Grand Prix, but his race wasn’t without incident.
At his second pit-stop, Sainz was informed to do the opposite to Maldanado in front of him to try to undercut the Lotus driver on strategy. However, the Spaniard took a late entry to the pit-lane and caught the pit-entry bollard causing a required front-wing change and slower stop in the pits.
Talking of the incident, Sainz said: “The team told me to do the opposite to Maldonado, and it looked like he was going to pit so I was meant to stay out on track, but he suddenly continued on track and I was so aggressive on the turn into the pit entry that I hit the bollard and damaged my front wing. I, therefore, lost time during the pit-stop.”
The error resulted in Sainz being stuck behind Perez causing significant tyre wear for the Toro Rosso driver: “it became an even longer [stint] behind Perez, who was slow in the corners but fast on the straights. I destroyed my tyres behind him and in the end it was all about making sure I brought the car back home.”
However, Sainz was positive despite his mistake: “It was a good race until the mistake in the pit entry and I even think it was being one of my best races so far this year. It was a good first stint on the Options and an even better one on the Primes, I was really flying, catching the cars in front. The team did a very good job and I’m sure that we would’ve finished higher than P10 if it hadn’t been for my mistake – a rookie error that I will learn from. All in all, I’m pleased with my first Japanese Grand Prix!”
Sainz is now 15th in the Drivers’ Championship with 12 points so far in 2015, but Sainz is 20 behind his teammate who lies 12th.
