Sainz laments losing Miami GP victory due to timing of pit stops

Carlos Sainz believes he could have won the 2024 Miami Grand Prix last Sunday and not Lando Norris, lamenting Ferrari’s decision to pit him just before the safety car came out.

Sainz should probably blame his boss Fred Vasseur for missing out on a second victory this season, with the Frenchman joking after the race that he “forgot the crystal ball”, otherwise he could have predicted when the safety car would come out .

Sainz was asked to comment on his former McLaren teammate’s first victory in Formula 1. He began: “I think Lando has deserved a victory for many, many years now. He’s driving at an excellent level and to finally get it (win), I’m obviously happy for him.

He then added: “(I’m) frustrated because we were in front of him before that pit stop before the safety car, we would have extended one more lap, we would have caught the safety car and we would have won the race too .

“But I think luck comes to those who deserve it. Lando was one of those guys who deserved a bit of luck this weekend to win his first race,” argued Sainz philosophically.

Luck, bad luck, it doesn’t matter

Norris may have been lucky with the timing of the safety car, but he didn’t put a foot wrong and the way he pulled away from Max Verstappen after the race restarted showed that he had the pace, without forgetting that Verstappen was never at the same level. with his RB20 all weekend in Miami.

When asked how hard a driver has to work to win, even if luck is on his side, Sainz explained: “The problem with Formula 1 is that there are weekends where everything is perfect .

“You drive to the max and you are probably the strongest driver this weekend because you maximized everything you had. You finish P5, P4, P3 or P2, and you don’t make the headlines because you didn’t win the race. And there’s the kind of weekend where you might not do your best.

“Lando won a race today, but he’s been driving like a winner for many, many races in a row now. He just deserves this victory. Luck, bad luck, it doesn’t matter.

“He’s a race winner. It was time, it was happening for him,” concluded the Spaniard.

Sainz may be in danger of losing his chances of victory in Miami, but ifs, maybes and buts don’t work in motorsport. Verstappen probably summed it up best when he said: “If my mother had balls, she would be my father. »