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MEXICO CITY — Carlos Sainz climbed on prime of his vibrant pink Ferrari, spreading his arms vast earlier than elevating his fists within the air.
The feelings have been evident. The Spaniard began the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix from pole, and although he misplaced the result in Max Verstappen, Sainz regained first and put collectively one of many strongest drives of his Formulation One profession. His race engineer, Ricciardo Adami, referred to as Sunday’s efficiency “a master class” over the radio on the finish of the race.
Sainz is the primary driver to win the Mexico Metropolis GP from pole in eight years and the primary Ferrari driver to win the race since 1990 when Alain Prost achieved the feat. This season is the primary time Sainz has received a number of grands prix — the primary in Australia 16 days after surgical procedure and now right here in Mexico.
Ferrari wasn’t ok to be within the constructors’ title battle earlier than summer season break, however its latest upgrades have helped push the Maranello-based group to second within the standings with 4 races to go. It’s truthful to say that Ferrari may very well be within the combine once more in 2025 if issues keep the course.
But it surely’ll be with out Sainz.
“Honestly, I really wanted this one — I needed it for myself, I wanted to get it done,” Sainz mentioned. “I’ve been saying for some time I wished another win earlier than leaving Ferrari, and to do it right here in entrance of this mega crowd is unimaginable.
“Now four races left, I want to enjoy as much as possible, and if another one comes, I will go for it.”
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How the victory unfolded
Sainz needed to work for his second victory of the season.
Verstappen took the lead after the grid barreled in direction of Flip 1, although that wasn’t shocking. Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a low-grip monitor, and because the Ferrari driver famous, Crimson Bull tends to start out properly at these circuits. Verstappen stayed on the within of Sainz heading into Flip 1, and although Sainz mentioned he braked as late as he may, Verstappen did the identical. This left Sainz with “no space to go into Turn 2.” Verstappen emerged with the early race lead.
Due to the early collision between Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, the grid settled behind the security automotive for a number of laps. Verstappen nailed the restart, however Sainz stayed in his rearview mirrors, by no means letting the Crimson Bull stray too far out of sight. He made his transfer on Lap 9.
“With Max, you need to be determined. You need to be decisive,” Sainz mentioned. “If you’re not, you’re never going to pass him. And in that case, I think I caught him a bit by surprise, and I could make it stick.”
With some assist from DRS and a tow, Sainz lunged previous the Dutchman to re-secure a lead the Spaniard by no means relinquished. The Ferrari driver initially appeared too far again to make the transfer, however within the remaining 100 meters, Sainz mentioned, “I felt like I had a good momentum, and I’ve been feeling very confident braking into Turn 1 this weekend. The car has been giving me confidence to brake late there, and I just went for it, and it happened. Also, this mentality of knowing I had a bit less to lose in that battle and that I could be aggressive and send one.”
He described it as a “high tension” second as a result of a chaotic battle unfolded between Verstappen and Lando Norris behind him. It resulted within the Crimson Bull driver receiving two 10-second time penalties, which he served on the primary pit cease.
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As soon as Sainz regained the lead, roughly 60 or so laps remained. Loads of motion unfolded all through the race, like Liam Lawson battling Sergio Pérez or Norris searching Charles Leclerc in these remaining laps. Forward of all of them, it gave the impression to be a slightly problem-free race for Sainz except for the report of a misfire. He mentioned that was an “isolated incident.”
“The only misfire I had all race was at the exit of Turn 3. Landing after the curb, I did a little short shift and it gave me a misfire, which was a bit scary, but we’ve had them during the weekend and we know it’s due to the altitude and the mapping,” Sainz mentioned. “But once I was in the lead, I was trusting my pace, my management, and I knew this weekend I’ve been very quick, and I knew I just had to do whatever I had planned, and the win was possible.”
Sainz retook the lead from Verstappen with a daring lunge into Flip 1. (Mark Thompson / Getty Photos)
At round lap 49, Sainz additionally raised over the radio that he felt Ferrari was pushing too onerous. It was a Prancing Horse 1-2 on the time, and Leclerc wasn’t far behind. The Monegasque driver, although, misplaced second in a battle with Norris. He misplaced the rear and almost hit the obstacles, saving it on the final second.
It could not have been a Ferrari 1-2 ultimately; nevertheless, the primary and third-place finishes, plus Leclerc securing the quickest lap, was sufficient to launch the group forward of Crimson Bull within the standings — a 25-point result in be particular.
‘The perfect goodbye’
Sainz admitted he shed a tear because the Spanish nationwide anthem performed in celebration at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Slightly below the rostrum stood his mother and father, Carlos Sainz Sr. and Reyes Vázquez de Castro, and his accomplice, Rebecca Donaldson. His greatest buddies additionally attended the race weekend, and all these current made this second that a lot sweeter.
“It’s one of the best moments in my career. My mom had never been present on a race win with me, and the fact that she was coming here this weekend, I wanted really to win a race in front of her,” Sainz mentioned. “On prime of that, the way in which the entire weekend panned out, it was simply good.
“Losing at the start and then having to fight back with Max just made everything a bit more tricky. Probably makes it taste even better because I had to work hard for it.”
Sainz celebrated together with his father, household and buddies after the race. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Photos)
It has been an extended 12 months, not only for Ferrari but additionally for Sainz. Information broke in February that Lewis Hamilton would be part of the group in 2025, leaving the 30-year-old with out a seat regardless of being aggressive among the many prime groups. It wasn’t till late July that the announcement got here that Sainz would head to Williams Racing subsequent season, a group making an attempt to rebuild.
In the meantime, Ferrari began the season competitively earlier than falling into a difficult growth stretch that noticed it drop behind McLaren and Mercedes by summer season break. It introduced upgrades in Monza, and Leclerc received, however time would inform if it was a correct step ahead. That affirmation got here in Austin when Ferrari went 1-2, with Leclerc successful his third grand prix of the season.
Leclerc mentioned that the constructors’ championship is “realistically possible.” Ferrari is 29 factors behind McLaren, which leads the standings with 566 factors. However as Sainz famous, the group will should be constant. Successful the constructors’ championship for the primary time since 2008 could be the right sendoff for Sainz.
“I think it could have been quite easy for me to lose a bit of motivation and to lose a bit of the drive to make it happen, but those three weeks of break (after Singapore) served me well,” Sainz mentioned. “I managed to regain a little bit of the dedication and the drive that I wanted for these final 5, six races of the season. And I managed to place myself ready with bettering my driving, my confidence with the automotive, to place myself ready to, first, win in Austin that I didn’t make it occur — Charles did an excellent job there — and put myself ready to win right here and this one I used to be simply going to ensure it doesn’t slip from my arms.
“Not an easy year, but proud of the way that I’ve managed to keep myself in it and obviously trying to help the team now as much as I can to win these constructors because it would be the perfect goodbye for me.”
(Prime picture: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Photos)
