The Ferrari Formula 1 team boss, Frederic Vasseur, praised the way Carlos Sainz handled a challenging situation during the Monaco Grand Prix, ultimately helping his teammate Charles Leclerc secure the victory.
Sainz had expressed his commitment to support Leclerc’s pole position and came close to overtaking Oscar Piastri to secure second place early in the race. However, Piastri managed to hold his position on the outside of Turn 1, resulting in a slight collision that caused a puncture in Sainz’s left front tire.
Fortunately, a separate incident involving Sauber’s Zhou Guanue allowed Sainz to regain his third-place position after the race was temporarily halted with a red flag. When asked about his emotions during this rollercoaster of events, Vasseur explained that the team’s focus was mainly on communicating with Sainz to understand the situation and whether he could restart the car.
Vasseur admitted that the team was not aware of the accident that led to the red flag, as their attention was fully on the car itself. However, when they received the news that none of the cars had crossed the Safety Car line and that they would need to consider the Safety Car line position, this was seen as positive news.
After the race resumed, Sainz maintained his third-place position, with Lando Norris close behind. The leading quartet adopted a slower pace to preserve their tires until the end. Sainz was instructed to prevent McLaren from taking advantage of a free pit stop, while also putting pressure on Piastri and keeping Norris at bay for the pit stop distance.
Vasseur recognized that this put Sainz in a challenging situation, as he had to balance multiple objectives. Despite the frustrations expressed by Sainz over the team radio, Vasseur was pleased with the performance of both drivers.
Sainz himself acknowledged that he was lucky to have the opportunity to recover after the tire puncture. The incident involving Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars provided him with the chance to regain third place and keep racing.
Overall, Sainz’s ability to navigate through difficulties and contribute to Leclerc’s victory was highly praised by the Ferrari team.
