Carlos Sainz exited qualifying on Saturday in Monaco satisfied with his P6 grid place but left the Principality on Sunday evening a thoroughly disappointed young man.
The Toro Rosso driver felt he had the pace to challenge for a top 5 finish, enjoying a steady and consistent run all afternoon but was deprived of a good result by pit errors which put slower cars in his path.
"Honestly, there were much more points on the table for us, so definitely not happy with the final results after doing a very good race," a frustrated Sainz explained.
"From my side, I kept the car away from the walls and was fast on all three compounds, so I’m happy with that, but it’s disappointing to have lost positions during our pit-stops.
"There were more points available as Perez showed us because he was behind us at the first stop and he ended up third and us eighth.
In between stops, Sainz found each time a comfortable groove, demonstrating impressive speed and consistency.
"As soon as I had clean air I had incredible pace, just that in the moment when it matters in the two pit stops we just didn't do the right things and the right times.
"For the first pit stop, when we put on intermediates we had a gap of more than 21 seconds to Vettel. We hit trouble in the pits on the front right wheel, lost three or four seconds there, and then we had an unsafe release with the Force India car which passed us there.
"In the second pit stop we left just behind Rosberg, he was doing a very slow out lap. Fernando did an extra lap on a tyre that was 10 seconds slower at that time and still exited in front of us."
"Anyway, P8 means 4 points, which is not that bad – I would’ve been happy with this if you had told me before coming to Monaco, but after starting from P6 and seeing how chaotic the race was, I’m sure we could’ve done better.
Speaking of the chaotic race and the challenges thrown at the drivers from the outset on Sunday, Sainz admitted that racing around the treacherous Principality in dire conditions was quite a handful.
"I have to say that this was my first time ever driving in the wet through the streets of Monaco and it’s the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life!"
Sainz now wants his team to conduct a thorough review of the weekend's mishaps, hoping they do not get repeated in two weeks in Canada.
"Until this race the pit stops and everything had improved a lot. This race we had a great chance to score big points but we didn't take that. Nobody will be happy with that."
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