Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz says his team thought he was "a bit crazy" to start the Chinese Grand Prix on slick tyres, when everyone else chose to start on the intermediate tyre due to the damp track conditions.
The Spaniard was however elated to finish seventh behind only the top three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, despite going off twice at the start of the race.
Sainz found himself dead last after first going off at Turn 1, before spinning at Turn 2. However as the track dried quickly and the pack poured into the pits for the switch from intermediate tyres to slicks, Sainz found himself in the top ten.
"You should have seen the faces of my engineers, they looked at me like I was a bit crazy! I couldn’t believe it when I saw everyone else was on the intermediates," he said after the race.
“The risk paid off. You tell yourself it has to be the right decision, and suddenly when everyone pitted for [slicks] and knowing how wet it was in the first four corners and dry from then on, then I said ‘OK, now I’m the clever one now and not so stupid anymore!’
“It paid off, and sometimes when you’re in the midfield it’s worth taking these risks."
Sainz was also encouraged by the pace of his Toro Rosso, finishing 24 seconds adrift of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas.
"After the safety car I saw myself catching Ferraris, Red Bulls and Mercedes in front in the damp conditions – and I got super excited.
"Yesterday they were 2 seconds faster than me, and today I’m catching them. It was incredible and I felt super-comfortable with the car. You cannot imagine how happy the team is."
