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Carlos Sainz believes that he still could have achieved his sixth-place finish at the British Grand Prix regardless of the safety car that was deployed.
Sainz started the race on the medium tyres and managed to pass both Alfa Romeos in the first handful of laps, before setting his sights on the cars ahead.
The Spaniard used his more durable tyres to his favour as he allowed those ahead on the soft compound to degrade and lose time before setting fast laps after they pitted.
"The start, getting the two Alfa's out of the way was my one and only target for the first three laps.
"From there on in, I just let the soft runners go away a bit, let them degrade and once they pitted, I started doing green sectors, a bit like in Austria.
"And then we were on a one-stop and go the bonus of a safety car, but even without it, with the one-stop strategy we were about to do, we were in a very good place."
Sainz pleased after 'tight' Ricciardo battle
Sainz admits that it was close at the end with Daniel Ricciardo, who was charging down on him on the same compound, but with what Sainz believes was a quicker car.
"To the end it was tight. I felt like I had a lot of pace and I was flying but suddenly I saw Ricciardo out there, he was flying also, mainly on the straights," Sainz said.
"They were dragging a lot less and could carry a lot more speed into the straights. I had to play a lot with the switches and with my lines, but in the end we managed to keep him behind."
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I kinda believe him. McLaren is on a roll again, and it's really nice to see.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I believe Calle. Hell yes I believe. McLaren not only seems to have a good car, but they have sort of built a cool brand. Between top performances, Lando being Lando, and the memes, they're just making news for all the right reasons. They also just seem generally happy. I am a diehard Alonso fan, and I think the man walks on water. But I don't think this relaxed happy atmosphere would have been possible with Fernando. I have no doubt he would have better results, but the team would have felt the constant stress of not being able to provide a podium car.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
At this rate they'll likely at least retain P4 for next year. Whether they can challenge for P3 or not we'll have to see, but good things are coming for McLaren, methinks. As for Alonso: he'd likely score more points for himself, but it would be at the cost of his team mate, just as it was with Stoffel, so in that regard I think it's better to have things the way they are right now.