The Spanish rider shone to take pole last Saturday in the United States, but an accident on the first lap made him leave at the first change and ruined his chances of a great result.
To the hope that he had left the classification was added the fact that his abandonment came due to an error by Russell, who hit him in the first corner, which made it more difficult to digest than a KO by his own fault in an end of week without too many possibilities.
Asked by Motorsport.com on Thursday if it was hard to accept what happened given the good situation he was in, he said: “It was definitely one of the toughest moments of the season. And very disappointing, because after making a perfect week until then, having your career ruined by something out of your control is really tough.
“It has already been a few times this year, which makes it especially frustrating not to be able to contest those races. , everything that could happen to me, is happening to me. So I hope I can take them all off this year so that next year will be calm.”
Sainz does not believe that he could have done anything differently in that maneuver with George Russell, and in fact he questioned that this happened in the first places: “I was fighting with Max, who went long and I had to brake a lot. We were both coming out of the curve and George, who hadn’t even made the curve, bumped into me.
“It’s the kind of incident you expect to see more in the middle of the grid, when there are so many cars around you. But in the top four, I’ve never seen that incident happen that often. That’s why I was so frustrated after the race. Obviously I accepted George’s apology because it was good of him.”
Sainz valued the apologies of the Mercedes driver at the end of the grand prix, before addressing the media: “Of course, he always honors the one who does it directly after the race. And I always respect and value him. It doesn’t mean that he is happy or not that he thinks the FIA was also a little soft on him because of the consequences of his action.
Regarding this Mexican GP, although he is aware of who the local rider is and therefore the favorite of the fans, he feels very supported: “This is one of the countries I like to come to because I feel more supported and more loved by the people. I know everyone wants Checo to win. But if Checo doesn’t win, and I win, I feel like Mexicans are going to be relatively happy about it. So yeah, it makes me feel good.”
Sainz celebrates being able to get back in the car so quickly after the disappointment of the Austin appointment, without much time between the two tests: “Yes, honestly, the sooner these days are over, the better. Because you always keep thinking about what could be been, you always look back and see where you could have been during that race, I think we had a great opportunity that weekend. So yeah.”
“It’s better to get out of this bad run of luck and racing this year and then have a smooth run like I had last year.”
Finally, Sainz insisted on the importance of getting back on track for victory before starting a 2023 in which Ferrari must be back in the fight: “I’ve been thinking about it. The truth is that maybe now it’s on the positive side , but the fact of having the speed is what makes me calmer about this year”
“And the fact that I managed to come back after a very difficult start to the season and still managed to remake myself, reinvent myself with my driving style, with my car, with my set-up, to suddenly be in the fight with the two guys who are fittest in F1 right now, which is Charles and Max…”
“Beating them in the fight for pole and fighting with them for pole is what makes me calmer about the whole situation. If others are going to keep crashing into me in the first corners or I’m going to keep leaving for whatever reason, it’s clear which is frustrating, but not so much, because then I know that if I have the speed normally F1 returns what it takes from you sooner or later, so I’m going to take the positive in that sense, “concluded Carlos Sainz.