As Carlos Sainz prepares for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, the Toro Rosso driver recalls his maiden F1 home race last year, which saw him qualify a stunning fifth before jostling for positions with new team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
“What stands out for me the most during the whole weekend in Spain is the amazing crowd that we have there, as they never stop cheering for the Spanish drivers, it's an incredible feeling,” Sainz said.
“My favourite memory from last year is driving down the main straight after my quali lap and seeing so many happy people celebrating my P5 with me. I have to say that I was smiling during the whole of that in-lap and it's a moment I will never forget!”
Having slipped down to 11th during the race, the Spaniard picked up the pace in the closing stages to quickly depose Max Verstappen before setting his sights on Kvyat’s Red Bull. On the final lap, Sainz used his DRS to get past the Russian on the main straight but the Russian fought back and attempted a lunge down the inside of the first corner.
The ensuing contact saw the Toro Rosso leave the track and rejoin ahead at the next corner. In the direct aftermath of the clash, Sainz labelled the move as “crazy”, though stewards at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya eventually decided to take no further action.
“Turn 1 reminds me of my battle with Kvyat last year for P9 and finally getting past him at that point of the track,” Sainz added. “I’d say Turn 3 is quite a challenge as it's close to flat and you also have to take the wind direction into consideration a bit. I recall overtaking [Nico] Hulkenberg, [Kimi] Raikkonen [Felipe] and Massa around the outside there – it's incredible to be side by side at around 260km/h, knowing that if you touch, your race ends there!
“Turns 4 and 5 are corners where it's easy to front-lock. I enjoy Turn 9 as it's the fastest corner of the track and going through here during qualifying last year felt amazing! During the last sector it's important to keep the tyres alive – especially the rears – and as you approach the straight and you get to Turn 16 you always experience massive oversteer as it's close to flat.”
Speaking to German-language newspaper Kleine Zeitung after the 2015 Spanish GP, motorsport advisor Helmut Marko issued a thinly-veiled warning:
“Our established guys need to look out. Paradoxically, the more inexperienced ones did the better job”. One year later, Red Bull carried out the threat by demoting Kvyat to make way for Verstappen.
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