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Ferrari Lauds Sainz’s Monaco Brilliance

Ferrari Praises Sainz’s Control in a ‘Difficult’ Monaco Race

29/05/2024

Ferrari praised Carlos Sainz for his composure during a challenging Monaco Grand Prix, highlighting his skill at both the start and throughout the race.

Ferrari’s team principal, Frédéric Vasseur, commended Carlos Sainz for handling a challenging situation when his car came to a halt with damage at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix. Vasseur noted the team’s difficulty in understanding the issue, especially as another incident occurred behind Sainz.

“From the pit wall, it wasn’t clear,” Vasseur said. “We didn’t see the crash behind and were focused on communicating with Carlos to understand what happened and if he could restart the car.”

“Then we saw the red flag, but I didn’t realize there had been another accident. In such situations, you’re always focused on your car, not the overall scenario.”

“It was certainly a relief when we learned that none of the cars had passed the safety car line, meaning we had to consider the positions at the sector one line as well.”

The race remained challenging for Sainz: “For Carlos, it was tougher because we asked him to stay close to Piastri to cover a potential Safety Car but also to slow down Norris for Russell.”

“It was more about controlling the race than pushing it. It was a bit frustrating for them as they repeatedly asked, ‘Can I attack?’ But it wasn’t in our interest. I’m very pleased with their performance today.”

Ferrari Effectively Countered McLaren’s Strategy

McLaren F1 director Andrea Stella explained that their plan to pit Lando Norris to give him a chance to challenge the leaders was thwarted by Ferrari’s strategy to slow down the pace.

“Regarding Lando’s pit stop, yes, we considered it throughout the race, but Ferrari did a good job keeping Lando in the pit stop window of one of the Mercedes,” Stella said, expressing no regret.

“The pit window might have opened for one lap, but it was risky because a slightly slower pit stop could have left us behind a Mercedes, and then it would have been over.”

“As we saw, even with a three-second advantage, there was no way to overtake. Ferrari managed the pit window well, avoiding an interesting race scenario with Lando on fresher tires.”

“However, given the overtaking difficulty, I don’t think fresh tires would have allowed us to pass Carlos. The result likely wouldn’t have changed.”

Ferrari Lauds Sainz’s Monaco Brilliance

Ferrari Lauds Sainz’s Monaco Brilliance. Ferrari Lauds Sainz’s Monaco Brilliance.

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