Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur heaped plenty of praise on the shoulders of Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s victory in Mexico City, with Ferrari also bagging a second podium courtesy of Charles Leclerc. That result lifted the squad above Red Bull in the constructors’ championship with four races to go – but Vasseur was keen not to get carried away.
Sainz had looked good at the Autodromo Hermanoz Rodriguez from the word go, finishing in the top three across every practice session, before grabbing an emphatic pole in qualifying. His Q3 pace was such that even his first flying run would have been enough for pole, but he improved on his second run to wind up over two tenths clear of the field on what is a relatively short track.
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The Spaniard was also clever to manage his race, not worrying when he lost out to Max Verstappen at the start, instead trusting that he had the pace to get the position back – which he did with an impressively late braking move once the Safety Car came in. And unlike many others on Sunday, Sainz kept his move clean so there was no need for any involvement by the stewards.
“It was a perfect weekend because from FP1 [Sainz] was always on the pace, always there,” said Vasseur. “The pole, he did two times the pole with the two laps and today he had the perfect drive because he gave up the first corner because it was a bit tight.
“He was clever to give up the position and then to come back and to overtake Max [Verstappen], I think it was a perfect drive and a perfect weekend.”
