To add to Sainz’s woes, he was called to see the stewards after the race, and handed a reprimand for ‘dangerous driving’. Replays showed that after removing the steering wheel following his crash, he then reattached it and attempted to get going – despite the marshals already starting to recover his car.
He admitted he wasn’t aware the marshals had started their procedures, on what was a trying day for his side of the garage.
As for his team mate, Leclerc finished the race in fifth place but is now mathematically out of contention for the drivers’ championship. Leclerc did manage to do what many could not in keeping a charging Max Verstappen at bay for a handful of laps mid-race, and also managed to keep Lando Norris behind late on.
READ MORE: Verstappen reflects on ‘absolutely crazy’ Sao Paulo GP after sublime climb from P17 to victory as he extends title lead
But he paid the price for stopping early for a second set of intermediate tyres, and coming out in traffic cost him dear.
“On one side, we were just not fast enough: the car was extremely difficult to drive and very, very pointy, very digital, very oversteery, and it was very difficult to drive,” Leclerc said.
.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1&description=Carlos Sainz says he “cannot explain” how he crashed twice on Sunday at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as both he and Charles Leclerc labelled the SF-24 as difficult to drive in wet conditions.){kind=link}