Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein brought the Swiss team its first world championship points of the year in Barcelona, thanks to a steady drive to P8 and a risky but productive one-stop strategy.
The German driver was understandably delighted with his performance, his best in Formula 1 and only his second top-ten finish.
Weherlein launched his race from P15 on the grid and drove remarkably well, moving up a few spots from 12th after ten laps when tyre rotations set in.
The emergence of a providential Virtual Safety Car period strengthened the Sauber driver's position when he switched from the soft to the medium compound with the ambition of making it last to the checkered flag. "I'm really happy about the race and how it went, we took a risky one-stop strategy but it worked out," Wehrlein said.
"I think the first stint was quite tough with the softs driving so long with the soft, and in the end it was really important to keep Sainz behind, which was obviously a lot quicker but you know then to keep him behind and build a gap to the guys behind him."
Wehrlein's advantageous position looked in jeopardy at one point however when he was handed a five-second penalty for a pitlane infringement.
Seventh on the road, he was ultimately awarded eighth in the final official results.
The Sauber driver had recieved a late call from his pitwall and had no choice but to dive for the pits, subsequently crossing the entry line on the wrong side of the bollard.
"I just got the call when I was already at the last corner, but I knew when they called me so late it's important to come in,” he continued.
"So I missed the bollard, but if I wouldn't stop on this lap everyone behind would have overtaken me, so this was the only chance to get some points as well. I knew that something was coming, I expected a penalty, probably I hoped for a penalty for the next race or something!
"But I'm also happy about the five seconds I think it's better than a drive through penalty."
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