Carlos Sainz revelled in a podium finish at the Russian Grand Prix having initially feared that he’d miss out on silverware.
Sainz grabbed the lead from McLaren’s Lando Norris on the opening lap but ceded position through the first stint prior to making an early pit stop.
Sainz moved back into the podium positions, behind Norris and Lewis Hamilton, but lost the spot when Sergio Perez, on fresher rubber, moved ahead.
However amid the late chaos, when rain fell across Sochi Autodrom, Sainz moved back into third spot, behind Hamilton and Max Verstappen, to take a third podium of the year.
“At some point in the race it really looked like it was going wrong,” said Sainz.
“First, after suffering so much graining with the Medium tyre after leading the race quite comfortably for the first seven, eight laps, and facing so much degradation and losing the position to Lando.
“I was one of the first ones to pit and got in the queue behind Valtteri [Bottas] and was suffering with all that traffic, yeah, at some point I really thought the podium wasn’t happening.
“I found a good feeling but suddenly I saw the rain coming. It was starting to rain in Turn 5 and 7 and all those of us out there on Hards were struggling massively to keep the car on track while people on Mediums, they looked to be having a bit more grip, they looked to be with a softer tyre managing to keep the car on track, while I was just nowhere.
“I was at some point considering pitting for a Soft tyre, just to make it to the end and in the end we decided to go for Inters, the last four laps and it worked out beautifully and we ended up third.
“So good calls, good management, just a bit more obstacles than I was expecting after leading into Turn 2.”
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