They scored their maiden F1 podium in Brazil amid the chaos brought by the race. Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly are meeting again in the standings, as they are now tied at 95 points for sixth place in the drivers’ championship.
Both drivers took part in today’s FIA press conference and shared their views on the Interlagos race madness and their battle for P6 in the championship.
Carlos Sainz prefers to be “cautious” over his expectations for the Abu Dhabi GP and stressed that being in this position at this stage is a huge positive to take from the 2019 season.
“I think we’re as confident as we can be but at the same time you’re obviously cautious, you can never know what’s going to happen in the last race. I already consider it a bit of a success, to be fighting for P6”.
“It’s a bit of a bonus because you never expect to be fighting for P6 in the midfield – you expect to be fighting for P7. And now that we have the chance and we’ve created ourselves an opportunity, we want to take it.”

Toro Rosso has managed to score two podium finishes over the year in unusual circumstances, taking advantage of mayhem that bursted throughout the German and the Brazilian GP. Therefore, it will certainly stand for tough competition for Sainz and McLaren, a team which has been battered by poor performance, hard luck and issues on all levels for the past 5 years. As the team is now getting back on track and displaying some points of strength, not only can Sainz rely on his hunger for success, but he will also be backed by the relentless pursuit of improvement from the team.
“I’m not sure it’s going to be easy, Pierre and Toro Rosso… have been really strong, they’ve executed some really nice races and I’m sure we’re going to have some fun and some tough competition.”