Carlos Sainz rues Monza safety car "anti-climax"

Italian Grand Prix

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Sainz rues Monza safety car "anti-climax"

The Italian Grand Prix ended under the safety car to a chorus of boos from the grandstands

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Monday 12 September 2022 14:27

Carlos Sainz has criticised the "super-slow" recovery of Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren that resulted in the Italian Grand Prix concluding behind the safety car.

Fans booed as drivers took the chequered flag in single file after race director Niels Wittich deemed it was impossible to restart the action following Ricciardo's late retirement.

Opinion was split in the paddock over the decision with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explaining that "these are the rules" while others, including Sainz, were more critical.

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“It is a bit of an anti-climax, especially because I feel like it could have been done a lot quicker," said Sainz.

“It is sometimes pure luck that the safety car comes out three laps to the end and you cannot do anything but not restart the race and there are other times where - I think the safety car came with six-seven laps and there was plenty of time, I think, to recover the vehicle and get the race restarted.

“But for some reason, everything was super-slow and we couldn’t get a show at the end which is a shame because I felt we were going to get at least two or three laps of racing.”

Sainz loses podium chance

Sainz had started 18th after receiving a back-of-the-grid penalty for fitting a new power unit in his Ferrari.

His recovery drive saw him finish fourth but prior to the safety car interruption, he had been hopeful of battling George Russell for the final step on the podium.

"To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to make myself clear the whole midfield and get myself in contention for the podium, so it was a very good day," added the Spaniard.

“I was fast out there, especially once we changed to the soft the pace was really strong.

"And it was a shame because our prediction was that I was about to catch George on the last lap which would have been a nice close end for the race after such a strong recovery."