Carlos Sainz: I had one of the hardest races

Carlos Sainz won the first win of his career at Silverstone. At a press conference after the finish, the Ferrari driver summed up the weekend, commenting on team tactics and the fight with a partner on track.

Q: Carlos, how difficult was it to control emotions during the race and to keep an eye on the situation on the track?
Carlos SainzA: Certainly not easy. Perhaps psychologically it was one of the hardest races. We were constantly talking on the radio, I was trying to keep the gap with Charles and Lewis and in the beginning I was fighting with Max. In addition, I did not feel completely comfortable in the car – in fast corners there was a strong understeer, which caused me to lose a lot of speed. However, I remained calm, kept believing, and remained within reach the entire time. When an opportunity suddenly presented itself, I grabbed it.

Q: During the safety car you went to the pits for soft tires and your partner stayed on the track. Whose decision was it – yours or the team’s?
Carlos SainzA: I didn’t know what was going on. However, I knew that if a safety car showed up on the track it would be a great opportunity for me to switch to Soft as I had already driven a long stretch on hard tires by then which I hadn’t expected , and the tires had already started to granulate.

I wanted to change the tires as soon as possible, because on Hard I didn’t have the pace anymore. As soon as the safety car took off, I went straight to the pits. I took advantage of the moment and knew I would easily overtake Charles on the restart, but I wanted to make it as clean as possible so as not to make it difficult for him to race because the rivals on Soft were behind him, they wanted to attack him too . I didn’t want to give him a hard time and I think he did a great job finishing fourth.

Q: Do you feel like a mountain has fallen from your shoulders after the win?
Carlos SainzA: The first win always brings that feeling. I won’t lie and say that after the first pole position, after the first victory comes moral relief because I was expected to win.

Do not doubt that I will continue to fight for more, I will continue to work on myself. I have always believed that a win is possible, even this year, which was difficult for me. In Monaco I was able to win, in Canada I was very close to this result, but every time something happened. However, I kept believing. If sport has taught me anything, it’s to keep believing in it. Nothing came easy in my career, but now I have an example that anything is possible.

Q: What was your reaction to the accident in the first lap?
Carlos SainzA: First, I have decided not to watch the replay of the accident. When the red flags appeared, I knew that only a serious incident could be the reason for their appearance. I didn’t watch TV reruns.

I am of course very happy that Guanyu Zhou got out of the car without serious injuries. When I saw the replay in front of the stage, I was shocked. It’s unbelievable that Zhou got out unharmed after such an accident. You know, we sometimes criticize the FIA, but at times like that we have to give them what they deserve – they help us a lot.

If you saw this morning’s Formula 2 crash, you would agree that Halo’s protection saved two lives today. We must honor the FIA ​​for the work done to improve safety.

I’m very happy to be in Formula 1 at a time when we can fight each other at speeds over 300 km/h, like at Silverstone. You can’t even imagine what it means to fight at such speeds, but at the same time we understand that if not completely safe we ​​are within certain limits. And I’m grateful to the FIA ​​for that, because it’s great. I like sports because of the safety.

Q: Before the restart, the team instructed you to stay ten lengths behind Charles’ car. Why? Now you and Charles are just 11 points apart in the individual standings. How is Ferrari dealing with this?
Carlos Sainz: I think the team did a good job in the race – I have nothing more to add. At one point, Charles and I switched positions for fear of undercutting Lewis. I think we did it perfectly.

Then I was asked to keep my distance, but I tried to explain to the team that I was probably the fastest on the track, and if I fell behind I could lose the slipstream advantage. If Lewis overtook me because of this he would have passed Charles the same way so I decided to take the lead as soon as possible and get into corner 6 to take the advantage of soft tires in traction and don’t interfere with Charles. I answered the team: “Let me, I will overtake as carefully as possible.”

Charles did a brilliant job and almost kept second place. Sometimes the team says something to the driver that it doesn’t agree with, but if you’re sure you’re right, just do it. I have a lot of confidence in the team, we had a great race and, as you can see, we trust each other in situations like this. And it will remain so in the future. I think we’ve done a great job and will continue in the same vein.