Carlos Sainz enjoyed a strong race in Montreal, finishing inside the points after starting at the back of the field.
The Spaniard was out of place due to a crash in qualifying that would have put him at the very back of the grid if it weren’t for penalties for other drivers. A fantastic opening lap and a clever strategy, though, gave Sainz the chance to continue his points scoring streak.
A fantastic opening lap and a clever strategy, though, gave Sainz the chance to continue his points scoring streak.
“A really good race for me today here in Montreal! If you had told me before the race that I would have finished in P9 after starting P20, I would’ve probably signed immediately!”
Sainz shot up to 16th on the opening lap, where he settled for a while before pitting on lap 13. The Spaniard had started on ultrasoft tyres and pitted for the soft compound.
“We chose the right moment for our first pit-stop, going for the undercut, and I then did five or six qualifying laps on the soft tyre, which allowed me to overtake five or six cars and keep up with the Force India.”
The Spaniard’s drive forward was put to a stop by Nico Hulkenberg. The Toro Rosso driver pitted for his second pit stop three laps ahead of the Force India driver, switching back to ultrasoft compound.
Sainz couldn’t get close enough, though, and Hulkenberg came out of the pits ahead of him.
His ninth-place finish continued his points scoring streak. After the fantastic race, Sainz believes the crash in qualifying didn’t do too much damage to his results.
“Even if I hadn’t made yesterday’s mistake in qualifying, more than a P8 this weekend was impossible, so we can be happy and satisfied with our weekend.”
Despite the fact his team-mate Daniil Kvyat didn’t quite share Sainz’s success, the Spaniard believes his result shows how strong the team is.
“A result like today’s shows that we are strong and that we are constantly improving. Today we did the right strategy and good pit-stops so I’d like to congratulate the whole team for this weekend, it’s been great!”
