Carlos Sainz celebrates an emotional win in Mexico, marking a heartfelt farewell with Ferrari before his 2025 departure.
Carlos Sainz achieved his goal: to leave Ferrari with at least one more win in red. The Spaniard secured it yesterday in Mexico and admits it was a deeply emotional experience.
“Yes, this victory is really special. I felt that this weekend would be a great opportunity to win this race. And yes, I had a very good feeling before the weekend. Plus, I was obviously very determined to win it. I knew we might have a chance to win. And I focused on that all weekend.”
“On top of that, I knew my family would come, and my best friends, my girlfriend, many people were there to support me. And I thought that maybe fate had something planned for me this weekend, that my last win with Ferrari could happen in front of them with all the support they have given me this year and on a magnificent podium, in a wonderful place like Mexico. I drove well, and I managed to hold on, and you can’t imagine how happy and proud I am right now.”
How emotional was he on the podium with his race engineer and car by his side?
“It was extremely emotional. I shed a tear, you know, listening to the Spanish anthem. Yes, it’s definitely one of the best moments of my career. My mother had never been present at a victory with me, and the fact that she came here this weekend, I really wanted to win a race in front of her. And yes, in addition to that, the way the whole weekend unfolded, it was just perfect. And, you know, with that move on Max… Losing at the start and then having to fight back with Max made everything a bit more challenging. It probably makes it even sweeter because I had to work hard for it. And to do that this weekend in front of everyone was incredible.”
“It was an amazing podium. I had never been on the podium in Mexico, and I have to say it’s one of the best of the season, for sure, with the atmosphere and the passion of the Mexican fans. From there, I just wanted to thank them all because this weekend I felt a lot of support from all the Mexican fans at the hotel, arriving at the track, leaving the track. I don’t know if it’s the language, the fact that I’m Latino like them, but I feel a lot of their support, and yes, they make me feel at home, you know? Thanks to all of them, and, yes, long live Mexico.”
The Battle with Verstappen
As he mentioned, the only negative aspect of the race was losing the advantage of pole position at the start…
“I didn’t get a great start, but at the same time, I think Max tends to start very well. Max and Red Bull are strong on low-grip tracks, and here, the grip is very low. Every time there’s little grip, the Red Bull tends to get off the line really well. So, I was somewhat prepared for a scenario where Max would catch me at Turn 1. I braked as late as possible, and he braked just as late as I did, and I had no room to make it into Turn 2.”
“From that point on, I didn’t lose my composure, and I knew that whenever I had a chance to retake the lead, I would try to do so. And yes, you know, with Max, you have to be determined, you have to be decisive. If you’re not, you’ll never get past him. And in this case, I think I caught him a bit by surprise, and I managed to make it stick.”
“Yes, the tension was high at that moment too because it triggered a fight behind me that almost involved me as well, from what I heard. So yes, it was an exciting moment in the race.”
It hasn’t been easy to overtake Verstappen lately, so how did he manage it?
“I probably caught him a bit by surprise because I was quite far back, but before Turn 1, I got a very good slipstream with the DRS, though I thought I might still be a bit too far. But then, in the last 100 meters, I felt I had good momentum, and I felt very confident with the braking in Turn 1 this weekend. The car gave me great confidence to brake late at that moment, and I just went for it, and it worked out. Yes, and that mindset of knowing I had a little less to lose in this battle allowed me to be aggressive. And I’m glad it happened because I needed to get back into 1st place to then set my own pace from there.”
Once Overtaken, Were There Any Issues? We Heard About a Misfire at Some Point. Was It an Isolated Incident?
“Isolated, completely, yes. The only misfire I had throughout the race was at the exit of Turn 3. Landing after the curb, I made a small gear shift, and it caused a misfire, which was a bit scary, but we had experienced it during the weekend, and we know it’s related to the altitude and the mapping. But once I was in the lead, I trusted my pace, my management, and I knew that I had been very fast this weekend, so I just needed to stick to the plan, and the win was possible. Towards the end, McLaren and Lando showed that they remained very fast and tough to beat, but I’m happy we secured the fastest lap with Charles and gained a lot of points for the championship.”
Leclerc and He Set a Strong Pace in the Early Laps When Ferrari Was Running 1-2. Was He Worried About Pushing Too Hard at Any Point?
“I definitely felt it! And that’s why, in the heat of the battle and at that moment, I obviously got on the radio to share my perspective on the situation. I had the impression that, especially after being 1-2—which was a dream scenario and exactly where we wanted to be after Turn 1—we needed to avoid tripping over each other. It came up a bit later, but in the end, it happened. The ideal goal was, of course, to reach the target lap for the single stop and to keep our tires in good shape. So, I gave my opinion in the heat of the battle, but honestly, I also understand why Charles was there behind, trying to push me to speed up, because that’s what you do when you’re in second and want to win too. It’s the nature of racing, the heat of the battle, the intensity of the moment, but nothing that hasn’t happened before, even on my side, so I completely understand.”
A Challenging Year…
Sainz spoke about his emotions following the victory, but can he reflect on these past months? How has he experienced life at Ferrari knowing he won’t be there in 2025?
“Yes, it’s been a strange year in that sense, and yes, quite difficult too. The year started off very well, then we went through a tough development phase, and suddenly we managed to make the car competitive again. I saw that the chances to win were still there, but obviously, Charles won those races at Monza and Austin, and I felt that, yes, I also needed to win before leaving, and I wanted it to happen.”
“I think it would have been pretty easy for me to lose a bit of motivation and the will to push for it, but those three weeks off served me well. I managed to find some determination and motivation that I needed for these last five or six races of the season. And I was able to put myself in a position to improve my driving, my confidence in the car, to put myself in a position to win first at Austin, which I didn’t manage—Charles did a great job there—and to put myself in a position to win here, and this time, I was just going to make sure it didn’t slip away. But yes, it wasn’t an easy year, but I’m proud of how I managed to stay in the fight, and I’m obviously trying to help the team as much as I can to win this Constructors’ Championship because that would be the perfect farewell for me.”
Focus on the Constructors’ Championship!
Speaking of the championship! Another strong comeback: 2nd place was taken from Red Bull Racing, and McLaren is now only 29 points behind, down from 48 before Mexico.
“I think both Charles and I believe it’s possible, and we’re talking about it more and more now. We’re motivating each other a bit, knowing that there’s a chance, and we keep saying, ‘Yeah, come on, we can do it.'”
“You know, we have a good relationship, and I think we both know there’s a chance, and we both know we’re in a good moment with our driving, in the way we are performing. And yes, one of the keys will be consistency and always having both drivers at the top.”
“This weekend, we did a very good job on that, on a tricky track where you could see that Q1 and Q2 were a bit chaotic, and everything could either go well or badly. So, we just need to keep ourselves in this fight.”
“And we shouldn’t become obsessed with it because it’s not entirely in our hands. Given McLaren’s speed, we also depend a bit on them. But yes, we’ll keep doing our best and motivating each other to win.”
Sainz had predicted in Austin last weekend that he would be fast here in Mexico, so what does he expect for Brazil?
“That’s a good question, and please let me enjoy Mexico before thinking about Brazil, because I’m going to enjoy this! From now on, we can dream—dream about the championship, dream about the constructors’ title, and yes, we can think about Brazil tomorrow. Today is the time to enjoy.”
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