Carlos Sainz “wouldn’t change” the decision to take an engine penalty at Istanbul Park. Penalty the "perfect" timing despite giving up Ferrari pace advantage.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz confirmed that he would not change the call to use the Maranello team’s upgraded engine last weekend at Istanbul Park and therefore take an engine penalty at the Turkish Grand Prix despite the fact that the Italian side showed a very strong form which could have allowed Carlos to fight for a podium finish.

Scuderia Ferrari introduced a new power unit on the SF21 car of Charles Leclerc’s car two weeks ago at the Russian Grand Prix but Carlos Sainz had to wait until Turkey to run his new engine, with the penalty incurred for the change forcing him to start at the back of the grid on Sunday afternoon at the Istanbul Park.

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Despite the difficult situation of having to start the race from P19, Carlos raced through the field to score some good points, even if he suffered a slow pit stop which prevented him from challenging Lando Norris for P7.

Although Charles Leclerc was in competition for a podium on merit and Carlos Sainz was unable to further press him the team’s advantage over McLaren over the weekend, the Spaniard said: “I wouldn’t change the decision. I think it was the perfect race to take the penalty to then do a comeback. Of course, without the penalty with the old engine I would have been able to start more upfront and maybe be a bit more in the mix but in a long season, we need to put everything into perspective. This is a development that is giving us a better performance, as you saw. I think the decision was taken correctly and it has given me, also, the opportunity to make it back through the field.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz explained.