Carlos Sainz continues his great momentum by scoring another podium behind the two Red Bulls. He described the race as “tough” since overtaking wasn’t easy, but he is happy with the feeling the car gave him.
Sainz underlined how at the beginning of the race the degradation was difficult to manage, but as the temperatures decreased, it then became easier to reduce tire wear.
“I had a good race, to be honest. I’m very happy because it was quite tough out there with the degradation, but then suddenly the clouds came, and the degradation decreased. So I thought that maybe one stop was quicker, and we were on the two.
“I had to overtake a lot of guys out there today, and overtaking was tricky. Here at Suzuka you really have to nail the last chicane to get a good run into turn 1. I could finish my moves, but it was tough.”
The Spaniard added that the last stint was important and the hard tires worked well. He knew the gap to Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc was big but he was also sure that he could close it and get back to P3.
“I thought it was on, but I knew it was going to be difficult to get back into P4 or P3. It was tricky to overtake the Mercedes in the second stint as it was difficult to follow. But in the end, I managed to close the gap to Lando and Charles.
“I was quick on that hard tire and I liked how that compound gave me a good feeling to push and I could get the moves done and get that podium.”
Finally, he said that he is ready for the Chinese GP. He believes it’s going to be “a challenge” since it is a sprint race weekend and getting the feeling back after not going there for a few years won’t be easy.
“It’s going to be a tough weekend for everyone. It’s a track we haven’t been to in 4–5 years, and we’ll only have one hour of practice [since it’s a sprint weekend]. It’s going to be a challenge.”