Sainz sees mediocre Ferrari: 'Had sixth or seventh fastest car'

Carlos Sainz finished the chaotic Dutch Grand Prix fifth. Ferrari lacked the speed of the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin this weekend, but the Spaniard made the most of it. Sainz says his team executed all strategic decisions well, but at the same time sees that Ferrari was anything but fast at Zandvoort.

Sainz started the race at Circuit Zandvoort sixth and eventually managed to gain one spot. "Honestly today we nailed the calls, and except for the first stop that we should have boxed on the first lap of the race and we stayed out one extra lap, everything else we nailed it," Sainz told GPblog and others.

Sainz had a lot of battles during the Dutch GP, including a long battle with Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman in the Alpine eventually proved faster than Sainz on the dry track. "The pace at the beginning of the race on a new inter was really good, and as the race settled down and in mixed conditions, I was quick. But when the race settled down we were just not back to our normal pace. A lot of attacking, a lot of defending, a lot of fun out there, but the reality is that once the race settled we were nowhere. We did the maximum we could with a sixth or seventh fastest car."

The Ferrari driver put his race at Circuit Zandvoort in his top-3 best races of the season of himself. "Especially this season, one of the best for sure. Top three for sure, because of how tricky it was out there. It was this turn nine and ten, and turn one also, you saw with Lewis how much he was catching in turn one. There was just something there that we were struggling a lot with. But yes, it has to be one of my best drives of the season," Sainz said.