While other drivers suffered in the wet conditions of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz managed to keep it out of the barriers and keep a consistent pace to finish sixth.
At one point it looked like his best ever finish in Formula One in the shape of a fourth place was looking ever so likely in the final stages of the race,
However a late charge from Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel put a dampener on those hopes.
“Well, the rain dance definitely worked and what a race that was! Sainz said.
“I’m super happy! To finish P6 after qualifying P15 yesterday is just amazing. I thought it was too risky to put the intermediates on and I asked the team to leave me out on extremes, and it worked!
Today was all about a good strategy with no pit-stops for me and a strong pace with no mistakes. To do it in these difficult conditions just makes it even better. It was so hard to drive out there today – it was very, very difficult to keep the car on track at times!”
Performances like the one he put on today in the STR11 will really have shown other team bosses out there that he is a potential star of the future, strong performances in a car otherwise regarded as inferior is always a way to impress.
Despite all the disturbances with several safety cars and two red flag periods, Sainz held his nerve and had great pace – allowing him to keep ahead of his rivals. He felt the need to congratulate the team as well after such a great display.
Sainz added: “We can also be very proud as a team, as we were matching the pace of the top runners in the wet, which means that our car is actually a very good one and that we’ve done an excellent job all weekend – I’d like to congratulate everyone for this!
To bring back home another eight points when we were not expecting many more is great news, I’m over the moon – I have to say that this second half of the season is full of surprises for us and I definitely welcome them!”
Sainz took to social media to show his pride at a great performance.
Twitter: The rain came and we did it! P6 in one of the most difficult races of my life. Battling with cars that yesterday where 2sec faster was fun! (@carlosainz)
