Carlos Sainz failed to score three straight podium finishes in Monaco, after a race filled with incidents involving contact, a spin and a disputed strategic decision, all of which contributed to an eighth-place finish despite the Spaniard starting on the second row of the grill.
Sainz was stuck behind Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in the early stages, the two made contact coming out of the tunnel when they both missed their braking point and raced straight over the chicane, with the Ferrari man saying on the radio that he had no where to go but towards the back of the Alpine.
That cost him the front wing endplate, but he was lucky to get out with a black and white flag and not have to pit to change the front wing. However, his team called him earlier than he wanted after starting on the hard compound tyres.
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“I was frustrated,” he later admitted. “But don’t judge by the comments on the radio at 300km/h in Monaco, on the walls, we’re all a bit…frustrated or excited, whatever you want to call it.
“Today, for me, it was a bit of a frustration. Those were two critical pit stops, one too late and one too early, but that’s Monaco. A bit of a lottery, and today maybe we didn’t do it right.”
In addition to pitting earlier than planned to switch from the hard to medium compound, late rain meant Sainz had to make another trip to the pits to interleave, Ferrari delaying the call a lap later than most of the field.
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That left Sainz tiptoeing around in treacherous conditions on slick tyres, and he lost control at Mirabeau and slid. His mistake saw him lose to his teammate, who was able to lead the resulting double-stack in pit lane, with Pierre Gasly also passing after switching to inters one lap earlier.
“I felt like the rhythm was there today,” he said. “AND [there’s] probably a bit of frustration because we didn’t hit the other calls”.
Ferrari remains fourth in the constructors championship29 points behind Mercedes in third.