For the first time this season, a team other than Red Bull has won a race, courtesy of some incredible driving from Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard kept his nerve and showed incredible nerve to hold his lead throughout the race despite the closing stages being extremely intense. Apart from his driving skills, Sainz’s knack for not listening to his team was also on display on Sunday, which ended up benefiting him the most. In contrast, Harry Benjamin, speaking on F1: Chequered Flag Podcast, believes Charles Leclerc ends up losing points by listening to his team.
In recent years, Ferrari have become famous for seemingly ruining their own races. They either come up with poor pit strategies or end up botching their execution. Often, it is their on-track directives that see the drivers pay the price for what could have been a positive result.
Even on Sunday, Leclerc drove the way his team asked him to, and it saw him start from P3 but finish at P4. Meanwhile, Sainz read the on-track situation and came up with the calls that helped him register a famous win in one of the most entertaining races in recent times.
Carlos Sainz did the right thing by not listening to his team
Ferrari’s botched strategy calls are no secret in the F1 world. Whenever they’re having a strong race, the Maranello outfit comes up with a way to ruin an otherwise strong result. Thus, the panel on the podcast was happy to see Sainz control his decisions and win the race- something he also did in his first-ever GP win in Britain last year.
“We’ve seen him go against what the engineer has told him to do while Charles Leclerc has just gone with whatever Ferrari has said. And more often than not, Leclerc is the one who pays the price for that. I’m fascinated to see how this dynamic unfolds,” said Benjamin.
Sainz’s actions proved to be even more crucial as the Singapore GP could have been the only race where the Red Bull cars were at a disadvantage. Heading to Japan next week, the Austrian team would look to make a strong statement after an embarrassing weekend in Singapore. As such, Sainz took full advantage of the situation to not only break Red Bull and Verstappen’s unbeaten streak but also register his team’s first GP win in over 20 races.
Sainz believes it was Ferrari’s last chance at a victory this season
Speaking during the post-race press conference, Sainz addressed the team’s chances of winning races in the remainder of the season. While the Spaniard remains confident of getting positive results, he also believes that they will not have as much pace as they did in Singapore. Thus, when presented with the opportunity to try and win, Ferrari grabbed it with both hands. With Japan up next, Sainz says Ferrari might not have enough pace to push for a win, but they are still optimistic about a positive finish.
For now, Sainz is proud to have risen to the occasion when his team needed it most. Some great support from his pit crew helped Sainz register a famous win in a race that will not be forgotten soon. The genius on-track decisions taken by the 29-year-old prove how good he can be if he can get the support of those around him.
