Sainz Reveals Reason for Costly 12.3 Second Ferrari F1 Pit-Stop at British GP

Carlos Sainz may have signed off the British Grand Prix with eight points for Ferrari, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was a gratifying F1 race weekend for the Spaniard, considering a top 5 finish was there for the take.

While Charles Leclerc was leading the pack from the front, there was Sainz, cautiously steering his Ferrari off any troubles in P5. Then arrived the terrible pit-stop from Ferrari for Sainz.

The Spaniard endured a painful 12.3s wait in his pit box, while the mechanics couldn’t get the fresh front-left tire to bolt in. This led to Sainz losing out his P5 to Daniel Ricciardo, who from there on, defended hard to retain the position, forcing the Ferrari driver to see the checkered flag in P6.

What went wrong with Sainz’s F1 pit stop?

It was quite unusual to see Ferrari botching their pit stop, especially on a weekend where big points were on cards. Unfortunately, Sainz ended up on the receiving end. But the Spaniard reckoned that it wasn’t the mechanic’s fault, rather blaming a sensor issue with the impact wrench.

“That was a problem with the impact wrench. It was due to a sensor,” he said, according to Motorsport-Total. “But it wasn’t a fault of a mechanic. The mechanics responded well to the problem.”

The mechanics couldn’t tighten the newly fitted tire and had to keep trying hard. Ultimately, despite the long pit stop, the Ferrari crew managed to get Sainz going.

But the biggest fear was Leclerc‘s stop, which was due the very next lap. Thankfully, the pit crew acted swiftly to deliver a sub-3-second stop for the Monegasque.

Read More: How Many People Are Needed to Perform an F1 Pit Stop?

It was even more difficult to overtake: Carlos Sainz

The Ferrari driver returned to the track behind Ricciardo after the slow pit stop. While a lot predicted Sainz to pull off a similar move to the Austrian GP, the reality suggested otherwise.

Running on hard tires, Sainz’s life only became harder, as the Spaniard struggled to keep up with Ricciardo amidst the impending dirty air.

“And on the hard tire, it was even more difficult to overtake him. I had the feeling that the hard tire couldn’t handle the dirty air,” he said. “I had even more understeer and couldn’t keep up in the fast corners.” (Translated via Google Translate)

Overall, despite the minor mishap, it was an almost perfect weekend for Ferrari. What’s more, the Maranello outfit managed to garner a hefty 26 points, which could play a crucial role in the coming weeks amidst their intense battle for P3 against McLaren.

But who is ultimately going to finish ahead this season?

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