Carlos Sainz is focused on an immediate response after the disappointment of losing P4 to a puncture at the British Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was coming under threat from McLaren teammate Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in the closing laps at Silverstone, but it all came undone when his tyre failed in the Maggotts and Becketts sequence with two laps to go.
Sainz was one of three drivers to suffer seemingly identical punctures, the others being both Mercedes’, and it was a moment that left him cursing his luck.
“I’m a bit lost for words to be honest,” he said. “I think the images spoke for themselves. It’s a very frustrating end to an otherwise very strong race.
Danny Ric got a front-row seat of Carlos Sainz’s late-race issue ?
P4, and a face full of sparks were his rewards ✨#BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/nPGUiJ7kZO
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2020
“I had a great start gaining a couple of positions and solid pace throughout the whole race, managing the tyres and the gap to the cars behind.
“Everything was working well, we were on for a very strong P4 and 12 points, but then the tyre failed and I had to box on the last lap. Very disappointing, frustrating and unfortunate. Nothing we could do about it though.”
While Valtteri Bottas’ puncture seconds earlier was a warning to the rest of the grid, as only a couple of drivers had not pitted for tyres under the second safety car period.
On the telemetry at least, McLaren was as surprised as anyone when Sainz’s front-left failed.
“Carlos was reporting some vibrations early on in his stint on the hard tyres, but there was nothing extraordinary,” team boss Andreas Seidl revealed.
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“We didn’t have any signs of a tyre failure coming. It was a sudden death of the tyre, and obviously very disappointing at the moment for the entire team and especially for Carlos.
“I feel very sorry for Carlos because he showed us a very strong drive today,” the German added.
“He felt comfortable with the car all weekend, he did some great manoeuvres on track, straight after the restart.
“Everything worked to plan, the pitstop worked to plan, so in the end everything was under control to finish in a strong P4, or even in P5, if you would figure in the failure of Bottas in the end.”
The only silver lining for Sainz was the pace of McLaren, as they had the edge over Racing Point and Renault and may have caught Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in the closing laps too.
And that is giving the 25-year-old hope of an immediate rebound at this weekend’s second race at Silverstone.
“I’ve lost some important points in these first four races, so I really look forward to this run of bad luck turning around,” he said.
“With a shorter championship, losing these points hurts more than normal, but we need to carry on.
“On the positive side, the car felt good on track and the boys did good pit-stops for the team – that’s why I also feel so bad for them.
“Tomorrow, we’ll switch our focus to the second round here at Silverstone next week to try to capitalise on our good pace.”
