Carlos Sainz Jnr said he was pleased with his podium finish in the Japanese Grand Prix as he thought it would be difficult to pull off early in the race.
While he committed to a two-stop strategy early on in proceedings, his team mate Charles Leclerc switched to a one-stop which helped him rise up the order. However Sainz was able to pass his team mate and McLaren driver Lando Norris to claim the final place on the rostrum.“I had a good race,” said Sainz afterwards, “to be honest, I’m very happy, because it was quite tough out there with the degradation.”
The track temperature reached 40C ahead of the start, considerably hotter than it had been earlier in the weekend, and Sainz was relieved when conditions cooled as the race went on.
“Suddenly the clouds came, the degradation went a lot lower and suddenly I thought that maybe one-stop was quicker and we were on the two.
“I had to overtake a lot of cars out there today and overtaking was tricky. Like always at Suzuka you really need to nail the last chicane to get a good run into turn one. I could finish my moves, but it was tough out there.”
Sainz began the last stint in fifth place but pounced on Norris after the McLaren driver made a mistake at the hairpin. He then closed on Leclerc and passed his team mate with little difficulty, after Ferrari reminded their leading driver the priority was to stay ahead of Norris.
“Honestly I thought it was on but I thought it was going to be very difficult to get back into fourth or P3,” said Sainz. “[Given] how tricky it was to overtake the Mercedes in the second stint and how difficult it was to follow, I knew I needed a very big delta to approach Lando and Charles and in the end we managed.
“I was quick on that hard tyre, I really like how the hard gave me a good feeling to push and I could get the moves done and get that podium.”
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
- “Am I in a race here or what?”: How Ferrari aced their Suzuka strategies
- Suzuka showed Mercedes “have a more stable platform” now
- Ferrari’s strategy gains in 2024 are “purely down to the car” – Sainz
- Tsunoda ‘at Verstappen and Alonso’s level’ with Suzuka performance – Marko
- Japan was first race where Red Bull’s winning margin was bigger than last year
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
7th April 2024, 8:58
Well done Carlos, Red Bull is untouchable again but you are best of the rest
Mars
7th April 2024, 9:12
It seems Carlos will end up driving for either Aston or Audi as both RBR and Mercedes are not showing real interest. Time is ticking for Carlos as he is enjoying a highly understeering Ferrari design but it may end up very soon with the first big update coming for Imola.
AlanD
7th April 2024, 16:15
If he had a choice of Aston or Merc, he might take Aston as the better car, unless Merc were offering a life changing amount of money.
grapmg
7th April 2024, 9:38
Great strategy for Leclerc. What if they had put Sainz on the one stop strategy as well. Would he have challenged Perez for 2nd?
Riccard
7th April 2024, 10:19
It’s hard to say. Leclerc went an astounding distance on those medium tyres in his first stint: there’s no guarantee Sainz (or anyone) would have done the same.
Mercedes tried the same strategy, and had to give up when their hard tyres were done. In the end their hard tyres lasted fewer laps than Leclerc’s medium ones. It was a proper gamble from Ferrari (and Mercedes) that wasn’t guaranteed to work.
MichaelN
7th April 2024, 10:33
Yeah, credit to Leclerc for making it work. And to Ferrari as well, because there’s no way their previous cars would have been able to make the tyres last as long at decent pace.
Mooa42
7th April 2024, 13:06
Curious to know if their setups were different. Charles appeared to have a more tyre friendly setup and probably couldn’t generate the heat in them for qualifying, but worked well in the race.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
7th April 2024, 10:27
I am loving Carlos’s performance and attitude this season.
I have every confidence that Lewis will do well in the Ferrari, but it would be nice if Carlos can leave a high score for Lewis to aim at ;)
BasCB (@bascb)
8th April 2024, 14:41
Yeah, it really is a delight to see him driving fast, effectively, strategically. I really hope to see more of that during this and following seasons.
DMC
7th April 2024, 13:10
Carlos continues to show his class and the more he does this the more his confidence will grow.This guy has been underrated for so long. Hope this continues season long.