Canadian GP: Carlos Sainz reveals why he didn’t get on medium tires to hunt down Max Verstappen in Montreal

Canadian GP: Carlos Sainz reveals why he didn’t get on medium tires to hunt down Max Verstappen in Montreal

A smiling Carlos Sainz gives his post-qualifiers interview in Miami

Carlos Sainz the Ferrari Formula One driver was able to come away from Canada with a podium finish to his name as the Spaniard finished in P2. However, Carlos feels more was on the table to achieve for Ferrari had they switched to medium tires with 20 laps remaining.

The track was evolving throughout the race and when Carlos Sainz came into the pits under the Safety Car, the pit crew opted for the safer option by putting on fresh hard compounds.

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The thought behind the decision was that during the race there was a lot of tire degradation and the Maranello-based team thought it would have been risky for them to put the Spaniard on mediums as they could not afford another DNF finish.

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Moreover, the set that Max Verstappen was on was only 8 laps old so Ferrari decided to go for the safer option rather than diving into the unknown.

Carlos and Max
Carlos and Max

After the pitstop, Carlos did make life difficult for the Dutchman as on occasions the Spaniard was only half a second behind but just wasn’t able to get the overtake done.

Carlos Sainz on Ferrari’s conservative decision

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz

Charles Leclerc was out of the podium picture at the start of the race and the responsibility for a solid finish was on Sainz’s shoulders.

The 28-year-old did not disappoint and gave his all during the race, afterward while stressing the Ferrari decisions Sainz said, “In hindsight, maybe we should have tried the mediums. We didn’t expect the safety car to stay out for so long and that would have reduced the remaining kilometers to be driven. In sixteen laps the medium would probably have been the better tire and I would have had a better chance to attack Max.“

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz’s P2 finish in Canada.

Sainz believes they at Ferrari put on the hard compound with a view of 20 laps and did not envision that the safety car was going to chew up another four and leave the drivers with 16.

According to Sainz, that was the turning point where the race win slipped out of the grasp of the team.

Also Read: “The Novak Djokovic of F1,” Fans laud Max Verstappen after delivering under pressure in Montreal