Carlos Sainz hints Charles Leclerc prevented further McLaren points damage

Leclerc, Sainz, Ferrari, Mexico — Photo: © LAT Images

Mexico City Grand Prix

Sainz hints Leclerc prevented further McLaren points damage

Ferrari pulled clear of its rivals in the race for third but were unable to challenge Gasly

Ewan Gale

Sunday 7 November 2021 23:16 Updated: 23:20

Carlos Sainz has hinted being stuck behind Charles Leclerc cost him the opportunity to attack Pierre Gasly for fourth at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Ferrari made major inroads into finishing third in the constructors' standings ahead of McLaren by finishing fifth and sixth, with Leclerc leading home Sainz whilst Lando Norris finished 10th and Daniel Ricciardo 12th.

The result pushes Ferrari 13.5 points clear in third, yet the result could have been even more damaging for McLaren had the Scuderia been able to mount a challenge on Gasly's AlphaTauri.

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Sainz was hampered by the collision between Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas at the first corner and dropped behind team-mate Leclerc, with the Monégasque eventually pulling to one side later in the race to allow the Spanish driver to attack.

With no move possible, the pair swapped back to their original positions.

"A good day in the office for sure," Sainz told Sky Sports F1.

"A bit unlucky at the start on the personal side because I think I lost out to a couple of cars that I shouldn't have lost out to because of the incident between Bottas and Ricciardo.

"From then on in, there was a bit of catchup to do on Gasly. Managed to extract a bit of pace from the car. Honestly this weekend we have been feeling confident and quick.

"There were team orders going on to optimise the strategy and in the end, we did the best we could and we came home P5 and P6. Pierre was too quick."

Reflecting on his strategy overall, Sainz added: "I managed to extend my stint on mediums very far into the race which gave me very good pace towards the end on a very fresh tyre to try and attack Gasly.

"We were quicker than Gasly today because I think we caught up a lot on him but when you lose out on this circuit at the start, it is very difficult to make it back.

"I just lost too much race time in the first 20 laps trying to follow Charles and couldn't get close to Gasly."