Sainz: “In Red Bull, you either brake aggressively, or you don’t pass”

Carlos Sainz signed a very good sprint race. He continued to attack, as the script indicated due to his 5th starting position and the 5 positions that will fall to him on the starting grid of Sunday’s race in Sao Paulo. He did everything and did not shrink against a 7-time champion like Hamilton, who defended his position despite the Englishman’s faster pace, or against the current two-time champion, Max Verstappen, whom he passed in an aggressive maneuver that creates fans. The Spaniard reckons that going into Sunday, Mercedes, who start 1st and 2nd with Russell and Hamilton on the front row, have more rhythm and the doubt is on the rhythm that Verstappen can have on the soft rubber , because this Saturday He will. a mistake in placing a medium tire. The Spaniard said the weekend was another example of what his season has been like. On the day he could have started in 2nd, he had to start in 7th because on Friday he changed the combustion chamber.

ESTIMATION

“Usually we drop more than Mercedes and we saw how they pushed hard. I got most of the positions at the start and to fight with Max and George. I had to be aggressive because I have a penalty tomorrow and second place is best I can get. Happy with the speed, with the race and it seems that Mercedes has taken a step forward and is very fast at the race speed”.

HIS ADVANCE ON VERSTAPPEN

“He’s at the limit, no doubt. It’s very difficult to overtake here. I had to adjust the line a lot in the first corner to pass him and with the Red Bull either you brake aggressively or you don’t pass him, because they are very fast in the straights. So you have to do it under braking. Sorry if I hit it but that’s racing and sometimes you have to do it if you want to get it.”

MERCEDES, WITH MORE RHYTHM

“We had decent pace this weekend but maybe Mercedes had a bit of pace. It will be interesting to see tomorrow when we all try to go medium like Verstappen did today and see how that tire performs. We have to pass they are on track. I start 7th with a penalty and Charles is fourth or fifth, so we have to have a good race if we want to beat them.

THE RETURN

“There is no doubt that the car is better here. We have more rhythm, but I would say that we don’t know with Red Bull, because they have a way and they have problems. But after today Mercedes looks to be ahead in race pace. Lewis (Hamilton) put pressure on me and George got away from me. We still have work to do if we want to beat them but at least today I was able to have a good race and split them. Although unfortunately tomorrow I have such an expensive penalty (of 5 places). Starting second will be better and I can try something, but we will do our best to come back”.

THE PENALTY

“It’s good but it’s hard. We finished second, but I spent many laps defending against Lewis, I passed Max, which was quite difficult because of his top speed. I feel that if we had started second tomorrow we would have been vulnerable because the pace was better and the Mercedes broke better. But at least we are there for the fight. Unfortunately, I had that penalty and this is the story of my season, when I have a rhythm and I’m getting stronger, I have something that brings me back and it’s everything that happened throughout the season. But at least I have confidence, I’m comfortable and I feel like I’m having a perfect race today. I’m ready for tomorrow’s match.”