Carlos Sainz insists there is no frustration from his side after Alex Albon overtook him in the Miami Grand Prix, despite a team order to hold position.
Albon started ahead of Sainz but dropped behind his teammate early in the race, re-passing the Spaniard into Turn 11 and going on to finish an impressive fifth. The Williams was quick throughout the race but Sainz was struggling with floor damage and ended up ninth, but doesn’t believe the moment with Albon was particularly significant.
“First of all, due to some operational mistakes during the weekend, we were forced to start on a used tire from qualifying while everyone around me was on a new, so I knew it was already going to put us in the back foot, losing a couple of tenths per lap in the first [stint] in new versus used,” Sainz said. “And from there, obviously, I tried everything to hold on the first stint.
“I picked up damage at the start with Alex. Then he made a mistake. I managed to pass him, then they told us that we were going freeze positions. Then, I don’t know if he got the message or not, but, basically, he overtook me back.
“From there onwards, on that first stint, I just tried to do everything to stay in contact with that group, holding on Charles [Leclerc] behind with a used tire and damaged car.
“I think I was the first one of that pitted, the VSC came out, so it was a free stop for all of them, or kind of a short stop for all of them, versus me, which meant obviously I got pressure from them after the VSC.
“Had a few nice battles with the Ferraris. But with damage in the car I couldn’t stay close to Sector 1 with all the downforce and I couldn’t get the better of them in the battles. But on the hard, the pace was decent, given the damage and how early I pitted. But just too many things going on.”
Albon stated he was given a message relating to engine temperatures – that could have meant he needed to hold position – just as he was lining up the pass on Sainz, and the former Ferrari driver was calm about discussing the incident post-race.
“No [frustration], for me, it’s only obviously, if I’m told in the radio that I’m not going to be attacked and we’re going to push together, to be overtaken, always, as a driver, you feel stupid, because you feel powerless because you’re playing the good guy.
“Same way that I played the good guy in Jeddah and you get overtaken and you look completely stupid, but it’s the way it goes. We’ll talk about it. I’m sure we’ll come out of it better as a team, and we will move on.”
There was also contact with Lewis Hamilton as Sainz tried to overtake the Ferrari on the final lap of the race, but after the stewards noted the move, no further action was taken, and Sainz was again philosophical about the decision.
“Last lap, I obviously went for it as I saw a gap and went for it. I think he reacted a bit to my move, it caught him a bit by surprise and he started moving to the left during braking, which if you apply the rulebook to the letter you cannot do that because that’s moving under braking. But last lap, last corner, obviously everyone’s going to be a bit on the limit.”
