Carlos Sainz cannot explain how the degradation of the hard tires in the second stint at Monza initially appeared very high but then became manageable.
Carlos Sainz just missed the podium at his last Monza in red
Carlos Sainz bids farewell to the Monza fans with a fourth-place finish. A result he would have accepted before the race, but during the race, the Spaniard hoped for something more, perhaps that podium he snatched last year with determination after a battle with Charles Leclerc.
Last Sunday, it was the Monegasque driver who hit the big target with a bold one-stop strategy. The same as Carlos Sainz, although he may have waited too long to switch to hard tires (on equal laps with Charles Leclerc on medium tires, he was 3 seconds behind his teammate; just after exiting the pit lane, he was 8 seconds behind) and undoubtedly did not manage the hard tires as effectively.
Carlos Sainz’s words
Smooth Operator, while congratulating Leclerc for his tire management, provided some details about the end of the Grand Prix: “I think after 10-15 laps in the second stint, it was the point where I realized that the degradation wasn’t huge on the hard tires. As soon as the others stopped (for the second pit stop, ed.), my tires were almost finished; they had a lot of degradation. Then in the last ten laps, they miraculously recovered, and that’s what allowed us to go to the end with a decent pace.”
“It was an incredible weekend for me; I had a lot of fun. It’s a shame not to be on the podium, but at the same time, I think from a strategic point of view, it was like flipping a coin: Charles made it together with the team,” the Spaniard continued. “As for me, to be in that fight, I probably should have stayed in the train of cars ahead after the first pit stop: I lost the chance for a podium there, but honestly, I’m very happy to see the team win at Monza. I would have loved to be there on the podium with Charles, but I think he deserved to win more than anyone else.” – the Spanish driver concluded.
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