Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1 driver, applauded Red Bull Formula 1 team for their form this year. He appreciated Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez who were “in a league of their own” at Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen marked a lead of six tenth of a second at Spa qualifying over Sainz. Thanks to the grid penalty for the title contender because of engine, the Spaniard inherited the pole position.
Despite starting at 13th place, Verstappen showed a stunning display of drivership. He crushed the thirteen places gap and won his second Belgian Grand Prix and ninth victory of the season. The Spaniard felt powerless to keep the RB’s behind and had to accept defeat within 16 laps.
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After failing to keep Verstappen at bay, Sainz had to let Perez pass him for second place on the grid. He maintained third place to be at the podium. He slipped from lead to 26 seconds gap to Verstappen and nine second to Checo.
“Red Bull, Max and Checo, they were in a league of their own today,” Sainz conceded. “And unfortunately, we couldn’t put a stronger fight and we had to survive. But we will have to learn why at this track we were not competitive.”
Sainz also struggles with softest compounds and hopes that the Ferrari team will be able to resolve the issue.
“I had a good start and a good restart after the safety car, but the pace was just not there,” he explained.
“We had a lot of overheating with the tyres, and we were sliding around a lot. For some reason our package was not quite there this weekend, but in the end we finished on the podium and we will take it.
“My first two laps were strong, but then we immediately went into high degradation. And then I realised that we were degrading more than what we should.”
The Ferrari driver hopes that Zandvoort will provide better results for the team at next weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix.
But he conceded Red Bull are likely to have the advantage the following weekend in Monza, one of the Scuderia’s two home races this season.
Sainz added: “Zandvoort should be a better track for us. Monza should be advantage for Red Bull there, but we will try and win it in Zandvoort.”
