(Motorsports news) Sainz and Ferrari capitalized on an uneventful weekend for the usually dominant Red Bull team by dominating every practice. This led to a crucial pole position on the winding street layout, barely than a tenth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and teammate Charles Leclerc. Then, in a cool and cunning race, he turned that into a victory by slowing down the pace at the beginning to stop drivers behind from trying to undercut into traffic.
In the final moments, Sainz purposefully let Lando Norris’s McLaren catch up and utilize DRS to hold the quicker Russell behind. Looking back on his season, Ferrari’s flawlessly managed race weekend served as a model for maximizing its prospects. Sainz thinks the team shown this past weekend that they are capable of performing well under duress.
When asked whether the Singapore result impacted his outlook on a difficult year for Ferrari, Sainz responded, “It has to affect the year because it’s not like we had many chances of winning a race this year.” This was in response to a question. “I think it was a tremendous accomplishment that we took it and we didn’t spend any time at all to maximize FP1, FP2, FP3, quali, Q1, Q2, Q3, and the race.”
Not just for me, but also for the squad, to demonstrate that Ferrari can succeed when the chance arises the next year. “We weren’t aware of this at the time, but we were under pressure that weekend as it was our one chance to maybe compete for a victory alongside Vegas. The fact that we made the most of it, performed well, remained composed under duress, and pulled together that weekend, in my opinion, is a fantastic demonstration that, come next year, we can accomplish anything if we get a good car.”
Making the most of the squad’s available package each weekend was one of the top priorities for newly appointed team manager Fred Vasseur. Despite “unbelievable” performance fluctuations, Sainz thought the squad had made progress in that area. The Spaniard responded, “It feels exactly that way also on the inside,” when asked if Ferrari, which placed third in the championship, seemed to be running more smoothly.
“I believe we are aware of the package we have; we simply need to get it back on track and make the most of it each weekend. And I believe we are performing it much more skillfully now. It’s difficult to comprehend how you can outqualify the Red Bull by three-tenths in Las Vegas, battle for the win, and then travel to Brazil a second behind the race pace. The fact that there can be such fluctuations in performance is almost incredible. “Now we need to focus on making sure we have more Vegases than Singapores next year.”
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