Sainz led the midfield teams in qualifying to put P5 on the grid and made a good start to overtake Sergio Perez in fourth on the first lap. However, after a safety car period, Sainz slipped behind Perez and former McLaren team-mate Lando Norris before picking up a set of medium tires at the end of lap 21.
It resulted in him struggling in the closing stages as the majority of the cars around him chose to run hard tires for the second stint, making him unable to fend off attacks from cars behind him.
After Sainz had moved aside to let his team-mate Charles Leclerc pass, he lost positions to Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly in the closing stages and fell out of the points on P11 at the checkered flag.
“Looking back is a nice thing, and in retrospect the tough day today was clearly just a stronger tire, especially for our car,” said Sainz after the race. “We had big problems with the media and we still need to understand why we were so prone to graining on this medium tire, why the combination of the medium with our car just didn’t work well today.
“In hindsight we would certainly have done things very differently, but with the data we had before the race, we thought a soft / medium strategy would be fine and that was clearly not the case.
“There is a lot to analyze in the next three or four days and a lot to do now. I am sure we will draw the right conclusions and improve in the future. I know it was in our hands and in my hands today to get a top 5, top 6 result with a decent run of the race and the pace we’ve shown all weekend.
“To come out with zero points and eleventh place, it’s difficult to think about the positive aspects.”
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Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said after the race that the team could see how much the grain had influenced Sainz during his second stint and urged Leclerc to pass. Leclerc finished the race in sixth place, five seconds behind midfield leader Norris.
“Switching positions is something we want to avoid. Things that are usually not great, but sometimes necessary,” said Binotto. “Today we felt like it was at a different pace and we could see that Carlos was suffering from the grain of the medium. We asked him, he did it immediately.
“So it really seems to be how he gets the message. I think when you have riders who understand what the priorities are and who support the team, it’s always a pleasure. “
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