After securing double podium finishes in Austin and Mexico City, Ferrari faced a so-called reality check in São Paulo. Charles Leclerc had to settle for fifth place, while Carlos Sainz did not finish the race. The latter is puzzled as to why he crashed into the wall twice on the Brazilian asphalt. Meanwhile, his teammate from Monaco is content that McLaren has not significantly extended its lead in the championship.
“I had two crashes that I honestly can’t explain well,” Carlos Sainz responded to Formula1.com. Both in the qualifying and in the race, the Spaniard slid off the track in São Paulo. His crash during the main race was so severe that he had to end the race prematurely. “The car has been extremely unpredictable on a wet surface this year,” he continued. “In addition, I must simply apologize to the team – this has obviously cost a lot of time and money. Let’s quickly forget this race.”
To add insult to injury, Sainz received a reprimand from the stewards for ‘dangerous driving’. Footage shows him trying to drive away while the Brazilian marshals had already begun to recover his car. An additional blunder for the Ferrari driver, who was unbeatable just a week ago in Mexico City.
Minimizing Damage
Teammate Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line in fifth place – a mediocre performance for the Monegasque, who had also been on the podium in the last two races. With Max Verstappen’s victory, he is now out of the championship race. However, he can take solace in the fact that he was one of the few drivers who could halt the Dutchman in the early stages of the São Paulo GP. By being one of the first drivers to pit for a new set of tires, however, he effectively shot himself in the foot.
“Our speed simply wasn’t sufficient,” Leclerc sighed. “On one hand, the car was extremely difficult to handle, on the other hand, I didn’t feel there was more to give. If you look at the top three, I think these are the drivers who made no mistakes in this long race – they deserve to be on the podium. Fortunately, the damage compared to McLaren was limited today.” Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished sixth and eighth at Interlagos. “It could have been much worse,” Leclerc acknowledges.
In this way, Ferrari retains second place in the constructors’ championship, but the gap to McLaren is now thirty-six points. Red Bull has closed the gap to Scuderia to thirteen points.
