“It was a great battle upfront and they managed to keep it clean, no crashes, no contact.” – Ferrari star driver thankful over a brilliant and safe end to the championship

Ferrari driver Sainz admitted he felt relieved that “nothing strange” happened between the championship contenders.

We all witnessed the controversial last lap which led to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was clinching the championship for the first time at the Yas Marina circuit ahead of his arch championship rival Lewis Hamilton.

Many argued that the decisions taken by Michael Masi’s in the race with one lap to go were against the rulebook, fearing that a collision between Verstappen and Hamilton would decide the title were unfounded.

“I actually believe that the championship had a good outcome insight of all the possibilities that there was coming into this race,” said Sainz.

“I think, personal opinion, it was a great battle upfront and they managed to keep it clean, no crashes, no contact.

Also Read: “The sport needs to make progress”– Nico Rosberg demands tighter wheel-to-wheel battle rules in F1

“Just a good battle that this sport deserved for this last race and the first thing I did was congratulate both Max and Lewis on the podium because I believe that whoever was winning this weekend was going to deserve it because they’ve both driven incredibly and they both would have deserved the title.

“For me, the important thing is that nothing dirty, or nothing strange happened on track today and they both kept it clean.”

“It was very strange to see and it nearly cost me my podium, to be honest” – Smooth Operator Alas over a difficult race

Sainz who put on a stellar performance from qualifying 5th to ending up on the podium, reflecting on the race, discussing the situations he went through:

“It was certainly a very strange situation for me because I was obviously battling for a podium with Valtteri [Bottas] and some AlphaTauris behind with a medium tire while I was on a very used hard,” he said.

Also Read: “But that’s just how it happened” – Kimi Raikkonen is surprised by the fact that he is Ferrari’s most recent F1 World Champion

“At the beginning, I was told they were not going to be allowed to unlap themselves, the people in front of me. Then they decided to unlap themselves and some people unlapped themselves but there was still, I think it was an Aston Martin and a McLaren [Daniel] Ricciardo, between the two leaders and myself.

“This I’ve never had before having to restart the race with these two guys in front of me, one fighting for a P3, so I do admit it was a strange one and maybe something to look at because it was very strange to see and it nearly cost me my podium, to be honest.”