Sainz claims consecutive P5's in Hungary: "This one tastes better than in Germany"
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
After claiming a P5-finish in consecutive races, McLaren's Carlos Sainz Jr. has said that this P5 tastes a lot better than the one in Germany last weekend, as he felt he could have finished higher at the time in Hockenheim.
He started from P8 but made quick work of overtaking teammate Lando Norris, who started one position ahead of the 24-year-old. Pierre Gasly in P6 was slow off the line as well as the Frenchman dropped places, and with Valtteri Bottas then pitting for a new front wing after a handful of laps, Sainz found himself in P5.
The Madrid-born driver kept up the pace for the rest of the afternoon but eventually got caught up by Gasly, who put immense pressure on the midfield leader. However, Sainz held on to take another P5 for the Woking-based team, and this time, Sainz was happy.
"This position leaves a much better taste than the one in Germany," he told Movistar+.
"We had very good pace and we managed the tyres well in the first stint. From then onwards, it was just a matter of defending the position from Gasly."
When he got informed his battle for fifth with Gasly wasn't shown on the broadcast, Sainz was surprised.
"It wasn't on the telly? That's odd. He was close but he never had a chance to make a move."
When asked about his ambitions after the summer break, Sainz had a clear goal: repeating what he's done in the previous two races.
"I'll try to get fifth again at Spa. I'm enjoying this season very much and you can see it. Apart from the first three races, we've picked up a lot of points in the first half of the season. I think we have to be very satisfied."