F1 | Ferrari, Carlos Sainz: “Now I feel comfortable in the car”

Carlos Sainz tried, he came close to this victory and did so for ten laps, but his moment to climb to the top step of the podium has not yet arrived. The Spaniard, who started third, took over the position from his compatriot Fernando Alonso after a few laps; he takes the lead of the race after the pit stop of Max Verstappen, who returns during the Virtual Safety Car regime. Sainz himself will return to the pits on the twentieth lap, during another VSC regime, which however ends too soon, causing him to return to third position. Having overtaken Alonso, the Spaniard tries to close the 9.5s gap to the leader, but the Dutchman returns to the pits: Max is second, but then, at the Safety Car, Sainz returns to the pit to return to second position. With the gaps closed to zero, Carlos tries: the last ten laps are heart-pounding. The Ferrari driver remains constantly below second from Red Bull, but Verstappen makes no mistakes and Carlos has to let go of the dream of being able to win his first Formula 1 race. At the 150th Grand Prix of his career - the same as Verstappen with whom he started in Toro Rosso – Sainz is still waiting for that important milestone, but one thing is certain: the Spaniard seems to have rediscovered that feeling with the SF-75 that had been missing too many times in recent events, a feeling that must remain and grow, not so much for the world ranking - which sees him in fifth position - as well as for the fate of his personal season which does not deserve to be remembered only for what happened during the last seasonal events.

"It was a concrete and intense race in which I fought with Max (Verstappen) until the checkered flag. The pace was good throughout the race but unfortunately we lost first position after the last Safety Car. From then on I gave it my all but to overtake here I would have needed two or three extra tenths – explained the Spaniard – although I am disappointed for not being able to take the victory, there are many positive aspects that we take home from Canada. Today we were the fastest on the track and I felt much more comfortable in the car, managing to push constantly from the first to the last lap. Now we have to continue with this level of confidence in the next race too. See you at Silverstone".