F1 News
Did Sainz drive his best race ever? 'The driver answers'
- Toby McLuskie
Carlos Sainz had a rock-solid weekend in Monza. Under the chants and cheers of the Tifosi, the Ferrari driver did not disappoint, taking his SF-23 to the podium. The Spaniard dared not say whether it was his best race in Formula 1 ever.
The one-time race winner managed to match rival Max Verstappen in all free practice sessions and even managed to outdo the Dutchman in qualifying. After a good start, Sainz was able to hold off the Red Bull driver for several laps. In the end, the RB19 in Verstappen's hands was still too fast and Sergio Perez also managed to get his Red Bull past Sainz's Ferrari.
Sainz delighted
After a blood-curdling battle with teammate Charles Leclerc, Sainz eventually brought his red car over the line in third place. "I'm not sure in F1. I've done other strong weekends that maybe went a bit unnoticed when I was in the midfield, where I felt I extracted everything out of the car," stated Sainz, who also drove for Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren. "Of this year, for sure. In my Ferrari career, probably."
The pole-sitter felt on top of his game in Italy. "I felt really, really at home and I could put together a strong lap yesterday and snatch pole, but today was again a bit tougher and it shows me exactly where we need to keep working on and where I will put my head down and keep pushing the team to keep working on our understanding of the tyres and our race pace."