Despite Slamming Ferrari for Monaco Fumble, Carlos Sainz Calmly Owns Up to the Crucial Error With a Learning Mindset

Going into the Monaco GP, many experts gave the Ferrari boys an edge over the rest of the grid. However, once the cars hit the tarmac, it appeared that no advantage ever really existed. Max Verstappen, without any hiccups, took the pole position on Saturday and then won the race in the most dominant fashion. Charles Leclerc had a forgettable qualifying, which ruined his chances of a podium before the race even started. Carlos Sainz, starting from P4, always had the podium in sight. However, owing to a bad call from Ferrari’s pit wall, and a couple of mistakes on his own part, finished P8. The Spaniard has now come out taking responsibility even for the call on the team’s part he earlier lashed out at them for.

The Monaco track is a peculiar one that puts the best of drivers and teams to the ultimate test. Red Bull undoubtedly has the fastest car on the grid, but there is one aspect of their car that leaves them wanting a bit. That area is where Ferrari and Aston Martin excel. We are talking about the speeds in the slow corners. Monaco has plenty of those and therefore, the Maranello team and the Silverstone team were in an advantageous position over the Milton Keynes team. However, once again leaving everyone surprised, Verstappen grabbed the pole position ahead of them all.

Carlos Sainz takes responsibility for the poor result in Monaco

Sainz took damage to his front wing right at the start of the race. That was when he went for an audacious overtake on Esteban Ocon and ended up hitting him from the back. Later, he went into the barriers when the track became slippery owing to the rain. The team’s strategy wasn’t too excellent either. However, the Spaniard took responsibility for that as well when speaking post-race.

Talking with Sky Sports, Sainz said, “We tried to stay out one more lap after the second stop, from medium to hard. but it was a mistake, even on my part, to want to stay out one more lap. It will serve as a lesson for us. Clearly today was a bit of a lottery and it wasn’t easy to judge. It was a difficult race.” [Translated using Google]

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His teammate, Charles Leclerc, started the race in P6 despite finishing P3 in Qualifying. That was because the FIA found him guilty of impeding Lando Norris in Q3 and resultantly handed him a 3-place grid penalty. The Monegasque finished a respectable P6 in his home race, with no place gained, and none lost.

Charles Leclerc is not unhappy with the strategy either

Once the rain arrived, chaos was sure to ensue. And that is exactly what happened. Running on slick tires, drivers were slipping and sliding but were reluctant to go for a pit stop. That is because the teams and the drivers anticipated a crash that would bring in the safety car. That would make for the perfect opportunity to get the rain tires on. However, that opportunity never arrived.

Pondering over it during the post-race interview, Leclerc said, “We have done mistakes on strategy in the past. I don’t think this was a mistake. In those conditions, you have more probability of having a safety car, with so many cars on slicks in the rain.”

“So we were waiting for a safety car by someone making a mistake. That didn’t happen and that’s it. With the benefit of hindsight, stopping before was the right decision,” he added.

“We had a very difficult car in traffic. Our pace is better than what we have shown today. In the end, I couldn’t do much more. The car was very difficult to drive in the wet,” the Monegasque concluded.

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Ferrari now has a big upgrade package coming up for Sainz’s home race in Barcelona. Can the new upgrades give Charles and Carlos a much-needed boost after a disappointing outing in Monaco?