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  • “I don’t care about (Lewis) Hamilton” - Carlos Sainz absolutely furious with Ferrari as they blow opportunity to overtake Esteban Ocon
Carlos Sainz left unamused after strategy fail at the Monaco GP (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“I don’t care about (Lewis) Hamilton” - Carlos Sainz absolutely furious with Ferrari as they blow opportunity to overtake Esteban Ocon

Carlos Sainz was visibly upset with how his strategy turned out. It left Lewis Hamilton behind him during the Monaco Grand Prix after his overcut failed, through which, he was expecting to overtake Esteban Ocon.

Sainz started the Monaco GP on P4 right behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, and while he was lapping very closely to the Frenchman, an overtake was very hard. This was because of the nature of the track.

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The only overtake he was expecting was through an overcut, basically pitting after Ocon, creating enough gap and then getting ahead of him.

LAP 11/78

Front wing damage for Sainz after he tries a move on Ocon heading into the Nouvelle Chicane

#MonacoGP #F1

This was a pretty good choice since Carlos Sainz was on hard tires, in contrast to Ocon, who was on medium. This meant that the Frenchman would have to pit around lap 30. Meanwhile, Sainz could go on to stretch his hard compound in order to perform the overcut.

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However, it didn't quite turn out that way. Sainz was asked to pit right after Esteban Ocon's pit stop and put on medium tires. While it probably was the wrong time to call in to change the hard tires, he also ended up behind Ocon.

He was upset on the team radio but was then told by his engineer that the main aim was to cover Lewis Hamilton, who was ahead of Charles Leclerc at the start of the race.

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Carlos Sainz mentioned that he didn't care for it. His entire radio exchange was:

"This is exactly what I talked about!"
Engineer: "The target was to cover Hamilton."
"I don't care about Hamilton, I was quick."
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Carlos Sainz drops further back because of unexpected rain

Carlos Sainz during F1 Grand Prix of Monaco
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Unexpected rain took to the streets of Monte Carlo. While it was only light at the starting, it took quite a turn right after a few laps. Drivers started pitting in for the intermediate tires. However, a lot of them stayed out, including both the Ferraris.

Carlos Sainz spun out in Mirabeau, losing further places. Because both the cars were going so slow, they were called in for a stack pit stop. But it was much later than both Mercedes. The pit stop was a little slow for the Spaniard, since he had to be held up behind Charles Leclerc.

This saw him losing places further behind, and though Leclerc came in front of Pierre Gasly's Alpine, Sainz came out behind him at P8. The rain, in all, hasn't been good for the Ferraris.

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Edited by
Akshay Saraswat
 
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