Sainz delighted by 'great fightback' after early setback

Carlos Sainz had multiple obstacles to overcome this weekend, starting with taking new engine components that meant he incurred a five place grid drop for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was only fifth fastest in Friday's qualifying session in changeable conditions, but powered his way to finish Saturday's sprint race in second place.

But the penalty meant he dropped to P7 for Sunday's full race, leaving him impatient to make up as much ground as possible once the race got underway following an initial safety car.

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With a little help from various incidents and collisions around him, Sainz emerged from the first full green flag lap having made up four places, leaving him running in fourth place.

But all that good work seemed to be squandered when he was forced to it early on lap 17 after an errant tear-off managed to wrap itself around the Ferrari's rear brake.

By the time he got to his pit box, the brakes were on fire as an engineer reached in to clear the tear-off. The car was still on fire when it pulled away, but the speed allowed a flow of cool air to act as extinguisher

However the incident had dropped him down to 11th and knocked off his race strategy. There was nothing for it but to put his foot down and try and carve his way back through the field - which is exactly what he achieved.

"I think it was a great fightback after having to stop so early, after having the brakes on fire, having to go a lot earlier than I wanted into the pits and having to commit to a three-stop," he said after finishing on the podium in P3.

"That was probably the slower strategy today, and I had to give it all,” he continued. “I was pushing flat-out. Solid race, no mistakes, and in the end, we got a well-deserved podium ... A smooth race, you know, without mistakes.”

Sainz said that today's performance gave him a bog boost in confidence looking ahead to what her and the team can achieve next season.

"The important thing is that this second half of the season, I think we’ve been solid with the car and I’m back to the level that I want to be.

"I have a smooth weekend the podiums are there and I’m up to speed and confident for next year," he added.

There was one element of controversy after the race. His team mate Charles Leclerc - who had a torrid time of his own today - had been running right behind him in the closing laps and radioed the Ferrari pit wall to ask that team orders should be invoked to put him ahead of Sainz.

“I heard nothing on the radio," Sainz stated. "I just got told.”

Leclerc said the scenario had been discussed before the race and that he was surprised Ferrari had gone back on the agreed strategy. The team said that trying to switch positions would have been "too risky".

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