“Oscar and I Seem to Have a Magnet”: Carlos Sainz Jokes on Constantly Having Skirmishes With Piastri on Track

“Oscar and I Seem to Have a Magnet”: Carlos Sainz Jokes on Constantly Having Skirmishes With Piastri on Track

Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz finished P2 and P3 respectively in Monaco, but they needed luck on their side. On the very first lap of the race, they made contact which could have resulted in disaster for both drivers. However, with no eventual retirement for either, Sainz was able to see the incident lightheartedly, jokingly claiming that there was a ‘magnet’ between them.

Sainz knew that his only opportunity to overtake Piastri would come on lap one in the first corner. As a result, he didn’t hold back and ended up making slight contact with the Aussie in his failed attempt at passing.

Citing his previous close calls with Piastri, Sainz said in the post-race press conference,

“For some reason, Oscar [Piastri] and I, we seem to have a magnet, recently, between each other.”

In 2023, Sainz made contact with Piastri on lap one of the Belgian GP, resulting in a DNF for the latter. In the same race, Sainz himself retired 22 laps later. Even earlier this season, Sainz and Piastri came together in Miami; this time, resulting in a five-second time penalty for the former.

Sainz doesn’t understand how he finds Piastri on track so often. But, he insists they get along well, which is why he cracked a ‘magnet’ joke after the Monaco GP.

His incident last Sunday, however, was surprising particularly because the Madrid-born driver had no idea that he made contact with Piastri.

Carlos Sainz was unaware of the contact with Oscar Piastri

After the race, Sainz referred to his shunt with Piastri as the ‘lightest of touches’. He put his head down and carried on with his race normally, only for him to realize that his front left tire had a puncture. That is why he stopped his car in front of the casino.

 

Thankfully for Sainz, the red flags were out, owing to a horror crash between Sergio Perez and the Haas cars. Sainz could hobble back into the pits, fit in new tires, and restart the race from P3.

Thereafter, he didn’t make the same mistake again and finished third, bringing home a double podium for Ferrari. Piastri split him and race winner Charles Leclerc in a Monaco GP that was dominated by McLaren and the Maranello-based outfit.

It was a signal that Red Bull isn’t the most dominant team anymore. And that both McLaren and Ferrari will be in contention for race wins in the subsequent races.

 

 

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
carlos sainz ferrari McLaren Oscar Piastri

About the author

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Naman Gopal Srivastava

Naman is an F1 writer at The SportsRush. Initially a football fanatic who worships Puyol and Leo Messi, Naman soon fell in love with the world of F1 upon reading about Jim Clarke. While the current era drivers do fascinate him, Naman still chooses to idolize Clarke and Ayrton Senna. When he is not busy watching the highlights of some of the greatest races of his idols, Naman can be found scribbling little snippets in his diary of poems or out in the town, exploring new places to eat.

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