Carlos Sainz accuses Ferrari of making a ‘fool’ out of him at Austrian GP

Carlos Sainz, in two separate interviews, criticised his Ferrari team for making him look like a fool in Austria as he agreed to play the team game.

Sainz appeared to have the pace advantage over team-mate Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the Austrian GP as they ran in P2 and P3, but not only was his request to be allowed past Leclerc denied, Ferrari also told him not to attack his team-mate.

It was an order which Sainz followed, who was further frustrated later on when Ferrari completed a slow double-stack pit stop for their drivers under the Virtual Safety Car, the track then returning to green as Sainz lost positions to Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz felt like a “fool” thanks to Ferrari

Sainz would quickly overtake that duo, but having been one of many drivers to suffer an in-race time penalty for track limits breaches, plus further punishment post-race, Sainz would ultimately finish P6 and spoke of a “sour feeling” having not featured on the podium.

His team-mate Leclerc did, having gone on to secure a P2 finish, Ferrari’s best result of the F1 2023 season so far.

And Sainz made his feelings clear when speaking to DAZN ES.

“Clearly, I’m not happy right now about what happened today,” he is quoted by GPFans.

“When you feel you have such rhythm and when you are supposed to be doing team work, and you see these things happening, it makes you feel like a fool. Not the best feeling, for sure.”

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Sainz also addressed the situation to Fox Sports Premium MX, and once more claimed that Ferrari had left him feeling like a “fool” thanks to their decision making.

“I had a lot more pace than fourth…being a team player during the first stint and then being compromised like that with a pit stop behind Charles really affected my race,” Sainz claimed.

“You are being a team player all the time and you have the pace but some decisions by the team leave you like a fool.”

Sainz will hope to make the upset of Austria a distant memory at the upcoming British Grand Prix with another strong drive, Sainz having last season at Silverstone claimed his first and only Formula 1 victory to date.

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