Quick Sainz rues VSC pit stop that 'compromised' Austrian GP

Carlos Sainz was happy with his combative and rapid pace in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix but admits that his race was compromised by his pit stop during an early Virtual Safety Car period.

Sainz settled into third place after the start, running hot on the heels of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc while Max Verstappen held a commanding lead.

The Spaniard's strong pace eventually led to his request to overtake Leclerc, but Ferrari ordered him not to fight his teammate.

While Ferrari appeared to made the right call by pitting its drivers during the VSC, the strategy only benefitted Leclerc thanks to the Monegasque's track position and proved costly for Sainz who lost significant time as a result of a double-stack tyre change that concluded just as the VSC ended.

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Sainz's subsequent catch-up charge then yielded a 5s penalty for exceeding track limits one time too many.

"I was very quick on the first and second stint," explained Sainz. "Obviously, the second stint was already compromised by the first stop, pitting behind Charles and catching the virtual safety car ending, which made me lose six/seven seconds of race time.

"It made me lose positions to cars that I shouldn't have lost, which meant then I had to push on the medium [tyre] to overtake them, get the track limits [penalty].

"My race was compromised from that point onwards. But if I look at the pace, I was very quick out there."

Sainz reckoned that if he had been left out during the VSC, or if Ferrari had swapped the positions of its cars in the early part of the race, the Italian outfit could have enjoyed a double podium at the Red Bull Ring.

"I'm just frustrated," he said. "It's been a few races that I have a lot of pace in the car. I wish I could maximise it a bit more because I'm very quick this year, especially in the race. I feel like I've done a big step forward.

"But P4 I guess is not bad, but I think today P2 or P3 was on the cards."

Despite his strong pace, Sainz struggled "to see the positives".

While Leclerc, who finished second, believed after the race that he had maximized the opportunities that had come his way on Sunday, Sainz felt that he had left a much better result on the table.

"Honestly, I'm very happy with my performance today. I think I did some very clean, neat moves. I defended well. As soon as I was arriving to one car, I was passing them."I was managing my tyres well at the same time that I was attacking. That's why I guess I'm frustrated right now because I struggle to see the positive on this P4 with all the pace and overtaking and defending that I did.

"Clearly I'm in a good moment personally with my with my driving so that's why I guess I'm also frustrated that I'm not maximising the points."

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