Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz expressed frustration after his Singapore race was compromised by an aggressive opening-lap overtake from Williams driver Franco Colapinto. In just his third grand prix start, the Argentine charged into the first corner, overtaking multiple cars and securing a points position.
The bold move immediately drew concern from teammate Alex Albon, who questioned over the radio: “Franco just divebombed! What is he doing?”
Carlos Sainz, who started 10th due to a crash on Saturday in the qualifying session at the 4.94-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit and had a promising launch, found himself losing a position early on due to Franco Colapinto’s aggressive maneuver, which he criticized after the race.
“Honestly, starting from the dirty side, I actually got a decent start,” – the Ferrari driver explained at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix in his interview with the media – “But going into Turn 1, I think there was a Williams doing a bit of a banzai move. Obviously, with how much we have to play in the championship, I had to take avoiding action. And if not, I would have probably had a big contact from from the Williams.” – he pointed out.
Carlos Sainz was among the early drivers to switch to hard tires, aiming for an undercut in the intense midfield battle. Ferrari’s strategy helped him gain track position, ultimately finishing in seventh place, but the SF-24 clearly had the potential to battle for much more at the Marina Bay circuit. This result stands as his lowest of the season, aside from Canada and Azerbaijan, where he failed to finish the race.
“From there, we obviously were even further back in the midfield. We took a bit of a bold, aggressive strategy, pitting so early to try and get out of that midfield battle and then go to the end on the hard, which worked for us. A bit compromised by the start, but then some good overtakes and some good pace when we needed it.” – Carlos Sainz concluded at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix.
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