After making history on Saturday with his first pole position in Formula 1, Sainz held on in a race that had plenty of action to take victory, also his first in the top category, at Silverstone, the birthplace of the world championship.
“Yes, we did it!” he said in English over the radio as he crossed the finish line before letting out, in Spanish, a resounding “let’s go!”
“Thank you all! Hamilton fast lap? He can keep it. It’s incredible, to get my first win in F1 and with Ferrari… you can imagine the kind of feeling that brings.”
He was defeated at various times and ended up victorious. For example, when he came out with means and could do nothing to stop Max Verstappen in the first lap. However, luck smiled on him for the first time when race direction, after the red flag for Guanyu Zhou’s brutal accident, restored the original positions for the second start.
Sainz held on with mediums against a Verstappen on the same compound, but made a mistake on lap 10 that dropped him to second place. However, once again the stars aligned with a Red Bull problem that left everything in the hands of Ferrari. But once again it all seemed to fall apart as a quicker Leclerc got in first and started to slip away.
But fate had his first golden weekend in store for him and Sainz was not going to waste it after another blow with a Safety Car that came out due to the abandonment of Esteban Ocon. Ferrari decided to keep Leclerc on the track and put Carlos in, as Lewis Hamilton (third), Sergio Pérez (fourth) or Fernando Alonso (fifth) did respectively.
During that safety car caution, the team asked Sainz to stay as far back as he could to allow Leclerc to hold on in front, but he disobeyed and, knowing he was faster, went all out, passing his teammate mercilessly in the reboot.
Then, from behind, a three-way battle developed between Leclerc, Hamilton and Pérez, allowing the #55 to escape en route to its first victory in Formula 1.
“I don’t know what to say, it’s incredible,” he said from under the podium, wrapped in the Spanish flag. “First victory, 150 races later, with Ferrari, at Silverstone… you couldn’t ask for more. It’s a very special day that I will never forget, and a very special weekend in general.”
“Thanks to everyone for the support, for the cheers, it’s been there but we’ve managed to keep it at bay and I’m very happy.”
When told about all the setbacks he had had to overcome, he summed up his career like this: “It wasn’t easy, I had problems with my balance especially in the first stint on the medium tyre, Max forced me in those high speed corners, and I held on as best I could, I thought I could get into the race”.
“The safety car has given me that second chance. You can imagine the nerves with that comeback after the safety car doing it and getting that win.”
Now, Carlos Sainz will always be grateful to Silverstone, where the first race in the history of the world championship was held and where he has entered the historic list of top category winners.
“Thank you all. Silverstone has been a special place for me, first victory in another category, pole position, and 12 years later I get another victory but with Ferrari. It is a special place and thanks to all the fans for being part of it and for encourage me,” he concluded.
Now calmer, before the media, Sainz reviewed on DAZN F1 how complicated it had been for the first to arrive: “It couldn’t have finished the weekend better and it couldn’t have been more difficult because of everything that happened during the race, but hey, we suffered but we kept our heads down, calm, trying to stay in the race in case anything happened, and indeed it ended up happening”.
“We have taken advantage of the opportunities, the good thing is that we have won many battles on the track at the beginning, then that little mistake…”, and while he was narrating, he was interrupted by a Max Verstappen who approached him to congratulate him and explain, after the Sainz’s question, what had happened to him.
When he was able to watch television again, he continued: “I had nothing to lose today and we had to try in any way to be ahead of Max. I had a little more rhythm, especially at the beginning of the stint and then when it happened to me , there was so much slipstream that I could put up with him and I could follow him, and then he had problems and we were able to lead again”.
This victory has come on a Sunday in which Sainz did not enjoy the car, something that he wants to review this week: “Today I was not as happy with the car as on Friday, I think you could see that it was suffering a bit. We have to see it with Calm down, it’s not the same car as in FP2, we’ve changed a lot of things, and today it was suffering while in free practice 2 I’d tell you it was the fastest on the track, today it wasn’t, so there are a couple of things that look there.”
“But hey, it’s good news because we’ll know what needs to be worked on and what needs to be improved.”
Sainz’s is the first victory for Spain since May 2013, since that Spanish GP that Fernando Alonso took. Now the name and surname of the man from Madrid already shines along with the other 111 who throughout history have seen the checkered flag of the top of motorsport as the first classified.
When they asked the Spanish fans for a message, he said: “Thank you for all the support of all these years, since I arrived in F1 until now, the number of people who follow me, who support me, who send me messages both on social networks like some on the phone…”.
“Enjoy it because it’s a great day for me, for Spain in general. I’m lucky to be able to race for Ferrari, to be able to enjoy it to the fullest and now to be able to take advantage of it.”
May it be the first of many.
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Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
