Carlos Sainz admits he found his victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix extremely emotional as he won in front of his family in the closing stages of his Ferrari career.
Ferrari’s strong form from COTA continued as he followed his second place last weekend with pole position and victory in Mexico, only briefly losing out to Max Verstappen at the start. Having re-passed the Red Bull with an impressive late move into Turn 1, Sainz pulled clear to beat Lando Norris to victory and he says it was a special result.
“I felt like this weekend was going to be a very good opportunity to win that race,” Sainz said. “I had a very good feeling coming into the weekend. Also, obviously very determined to win it. I knew coming into it that we might have a chance to win, and I’ve been focused, been on it all weekend.
“On top of that, I knew my family was coming and my best friends, my girlfriend, a lot of people were here to support me. I said maybe destiny has something ready for me this weekend, that my maybe last win with Ferrari can come in front of them with all the support that I had from them all this year and in a great podium, a great place like Mexico City. I’ve been driving well and I made it stick and you cannot imagine how happy and proud I am right now.
“It was extremely emotional. I did shed a tear [during] the Spanish anthem. For sure it’s one of the best moments in my career. My mum had never been present for a race win with me, and the fact that she was coming here this weekend, I wanted really to win a race in front of her.
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“On top of that, the way the whole weekend planned out, it was just perfect. With that move… Losing at the start and then having to fight back with Max just made everything a bit more tricky. Probably makes it taste even better because I had to work hard for it. To do this weekend in front of all of them was incredible.”
The move on Verstappen saw Sainz out-brake the Red Bull from a long way back into the first corner, but he says he had been ready to face a battle early on despite starting on pole position.
“I didn’t get a good start, but at the same time, I think Max tends to start very well,” he said. “Here is a very low-grip track, and whenever there’s low grip, the Red Bull tends to start really well, so I was kind of prepared for a scenario where Max was going to go alongside me into Turn 1. I braked as late as I can brake, and he brakes as late as me, and I had no space to go into Turn 2.
“From then on I didn’t lose my head, and I knew that every half opportunity that I got to get the lead back, I would try and do it. With Max, you need to be determined, you need to be decisive. If you’re not, you’re never going to pass him. In that case, I think I caught him a bit by surprise and I could make it stick.
“High tension at that point also because then that initiated a fight behind me that nearly got me involved from what I heard. It was an exciting moment of the race.”