Carlos Sainz disappointed with P6 in Las Vegas: "There was the potential to fight for the podium"

Carlos Sainz disappointed with P6 in Las Vegas: “There was the potential to fight for the podium”. Carlos Sainz disappointed with the Las Vegas GP weekend amid penalties and recovery drive.

Highs and Lows
It can’t be said that the weekend in Las Vegas was boring for Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari Spaniard, who on Friday found the rear end of his SF-23 disintegrated due to a manhole cover and on Saturday competed with Charles Leclerc for the best time in qualifying, was also a protagonist in the race on this Sunday, although perhaps not in the way he had hoped. At the start, in an attempt to gain positions, Carlos Sainz ended up spinning after colliding with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. The Spaniard found himself in last place after turn 1 and had to start a challenging comeback that allowed him to climb back to the final sixth position.

Looking at the result obtained by his teammate and thinking about the ten grid positions penalty incurred for an incident that happened a few minutes into FP1 and was not his or the team’s fault, however, it is inevitable that the Ferrari driver’s glass appears half empty. He confirmed this himself speaking to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 at the end of the GP: “Starting in the middle of the group, this was a very difficult race – admitted Carlos Sainz – characterized by low grip and cold tires.”

Missed Opportunity
“I had several lock-ups and found dirty air in front,” continued Ferrari’s #55, “and I had no grip inside the track, which was also dirty. Starting practically last, we managed to climb up to sixth place, but I’m not very happy because I saw that the car had the pace to fight for the podium or for the victory. Unfortunately, it went this way.”

“This is a weekend to forget,” concluded the Iberian, “but at least we got eight points for the team finishing in sixth place, and these were important. Now we are only four points behind Mercedes, which is nothing. We will go to Abu Dhabi with the intention of beating them even after what happened this weekend.” In the Drivers’ Championship, Carlos Sainz is now fourth, tied with his compatriot Fernando Alonso.