Sainz “happy” with McLaren’s Monza F1 victory despite losing points

Sainz spent two years at McLaren in 2019 and 2020 before making the decision to switch to Ferrari. Daniel Ricciardo came from Renault to take the Spaniard’s place.

Sainz, who took two podiums for McLaren and came excruciatingly close to winning last year’s Monza race behind shock winner Pierre Gasly, said “during his lean period over the past decade.

“They were even faster than last year [at Monza]”Said Sainz.” I think we had good pace last year, but not as good as this year.

“And the combination of great starts with great pace, I think they managed to put together a solid weekend. I congratulate them on that.

“It’s a team, as you know, I have a lot of respect [for]. And in a way, I’ll be happy for my ex-engineers and the people I’ve worked with.

“You worked very hard. You went through very tough moments on this team too and it’s nice to see a historic cause like McLaren win again.”

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At the same time, McLaren’s massive 45-point win – thanks to his 1-2 victory with Lando Norris in second place – is a heavy blow to Sainz and Ferrari as they battle McLaren for third place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Having struggled since the summer break, McLaren saw Ferrari build a gap but took the lead again after their dream weekend at Monza, leading Ferrari 13.5 points into the final eight races of the year.

“Unfortunately they are fighting with us for the championship and it is the worst result we can achieve for P3 in the championship,” admitted Sainz after finishing sixth in Italy, two places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

“But we are still within reach. They took their chances and congratulate them and we will try to bring them back in Russia.”