Carlos Sainz escapes from his burning car. Photo / Formula 1/Spark Sport
Carlos Sainz escapes from his burning car. Photo / Formula 1/Spark Sport
Carlos Sainz scrambled out of his fire-engulfed car which left him "heartbroken" and cost Ferrari another podium place at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Sainz's hopes of a second-place finish in Austria dramatically ended when his engine blew as he was catching Formula One world champion Max Verstappen's Red Bull. Sainz got out as flames were licking his race suit. Unharmed, he sat on the grass to contemplate his bad luck.
Sainz won last weekend at the British GP, where Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc dropped from first to fourth. After missing out there, Leclerc bounced back to hold off Verstappen in Austria by 1.5 seconds for a third win this season.
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After cutting out on Lap 58, Sainz's car was burning and started to slide backward in the gravel as a marshal rushed toward it with a fire extinguisher.
"I saw the car was catching fire and at the same time I was trying to push the brake," Sainz said. "I was calling the marshals to put something on the tires to stop the car rolling down. At some point, there was so much fire I just had to get out."
Leclerc's fifth career victory was one of his best.
Leclerc faced a big challenge in the closing laps as his throttle was not working properly, making it more difficult to control his speed into turns.
It was Leclerc's first victory since the Australian GP in April. After second place at the United States GP in May, Leclerc's five races included two DNFs, two fourth places and one fifth.
It was also a very welcome win after much confusion over team decisions.
Leclerc was exasperated at the British GP when his team kept him out on track rather than pit him for new tires during a late safety car, leading to Sainz's first victory and discussion about team divisions within Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz was unharmed. Photo / Photosport
This time Sainz was left with a bitter taste.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," he repeated disbelievingly when his engine went.
Seconds later he had more pressing matters as the flames rose.
Asked what he saw, Sainz said: "Fire, a lot of damage for sure. Not ideal and it is something we will need to keep looking at but the pace was there, the tyre degradation was very low on our car and we were fast.
"So, I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible. It is more difficult to take because we were about to cut the points to the leaders of the Championship, both Max and Red Bull, to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF. It is heartbreaking but we will need to keep pushing, turn the page and it is still a long season ahead."
