Frederic Vasseur praised Carlos Sainz’s tenacity for wanting to be present in the paddock despite undergoing an appendectomy on Friday.
Although he tried to bear the pain on Thursday, completing two excellent free practice sessions, Carlos Sainz was forced to throw in the towel at Jeddah due to appendicitis that knocked him out for the rest of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. However, the Spaniard was admirably replaced by Oliver Bearman, with the young Briton, at just 18 years old and in his first-ever Formula 1 experience, managing to secure a fantastic seventh place finish on Saturday in Jeddah.
“It was a strange situation at the beginning of the weekend,” Fred Vasseur commented post-race. “We were convinced it was food poisoning. He struggled a lot in both sessions with fever and stomach issues.”
“In the end, he was convinced it would be much better the next day. In the morning he called me saying he probably would skip the FP3 but would be there for the qualifications, for sure. By 11:30 am he was in the hospital and it was clear we were not heading in the right direction. Thanks to Jeddah’s hospital and everyone in the organization who carried out the surgery on Friday.” – the French manager explained – “I went to see him on Saturday and he was completely fine. He has pain and struggles to walk, but it’s a huge recovery. Now we have to focus on Melbourne. He needs to rest well this week and we’ll see next.” – he added.
Will the Spanish driver be able to get back to 100% in shape in time for the trip to Australia? “Honestly, I don’t know,” the Frenchman added. “The recovery so far is surprising, but the fact that he could come today to be with the team was a great sign and great support for us.”
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“Now he will return with me tomorrow and will have a full week of rest. We will decide when he should fly to Melbourne in a week, but I’m quite optimistic.” – the Ferrari boss confirmed.
Finally, the French manager praised Carlos Sainz’s tenacity, who managed to compete in the first two free sessions despite severe physical discomfort: “When he arrived on Thursday morning, he wasn’t feeling well, but he said: ‘I’ll try to do a few laps,’ and in the end, he did the whole session. The same happened in the afternoon. For me, it was already incredible because after the session he was completely wrecked. If you look at the practice results, he had a great pace. He was also able to do a long stint. It was fantastic. Now let’s focus on his future. The most important thing is not to push today, but to recover properly.” – Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur concluded.
Source: f1ingenerale
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