Carlos Sainz has thanked his Scuderia Toro Rosso team and the Spanish fans for their support after he scored his best result of the season so far at the Spanish Grand Prix.
A lightening start combined with the crash between the two Mercedes AMG Petronas cars saw Sainz move into third place, ahead of both Scuderia Ferrari‘s.
Although he was eventually passed by both Ferrari’s on his way to a sixth place finish, he said he felt comfortable throughout the race, “What a fantastic race! We finally put a whole weekend together we had a productive Friday, were fast in Quali and had good pace in the race today and I’m a very happy man!
“P6 is an amazing result for me and the team, and to achieve this at my home race makes it even better. The start to the race was great, I think I did one of the best race starts of my life to be honest, running in a podium position and battling with Ferrari. Those first laps were really nice!
“I felt comfortable during the rest of the race, the team did a very good job with the pit stops and I had a big smile on my face when I crossed the line in sixth position. I’d like to thank all the fans that have shown their support all weekend here in Barcelona, especially to those who came to my grandstand at Turn 12, they really gave me an extra boost.”
He also had some words of congratulation for race winner and former team-mate Max Verstappen, saying that it was another endorsement of the Red Bull driver programme.
“I’d also like to congratulate Max on his win today,” said Sainz. “I’m very happy for him and the Red Bull family.
“I think it’s great that Red Bull brings young talent into Formula 1 and we keep succeeding, proving them right.”