Abu Dhabi GP | Sainz reaches the sixth championship standing, while Norris struggles with the traffic
Despite a difficult race, Carlos Sainz managed to set his champions objectives whereas Norris finished in P8 after losing the battle against Perez
Starting from fourth and third-row respectively, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris had good expectations over the race in Yas Marina. Nevertheless, the two Mclaren drivers struggled with the traffic in Abu Dhabi, ending up in P8 and P10.
Indeed, Carlos Sainz, remarked how difficult it was to overtake cars at every stint.
“It wasn’t an easy race, with a lot of traffic in all the stints and having to start with the Soft [compound].
”We went for the two stops knowing it was going to put me in a delicate position to make it to the top 10, but also knowing it was my only chance.”
The Spaniard continued underlying his satisfaction for overtaking Hulkenberg in the final lap and reaching his Championship target.
“I managed to catch Hulkenberg right at the end and pulled off an overtake, on the last lap, that I will not forget!
“The target this weekend was to finish P6 in the Drivers’ Championship and we made it happen!
“I’m very happy with my season and extremely grateful to every single member of the team. Thank you!”
Last race, last lap, for P6 in the Championship......SEND IT!
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) 1 dicembre 2019
🎥 @F1 @McLarenF1 @EG00 #carlossainz pic.twitter.com/Y1CCyBXvAs
Lando Norris, who started from P10, showed a good pace. Nevertheless, the British talent committed a couple of mistakes at the end of the First Stint and dueling with Sergio Perez, who overtook Norris at the latest stage of the Grand Prix.
“Pretty much a good race having made a decent start. I struggled a bit and made a mistake at the end of my Soft stint, then had a big lock-up, so had to box earlier than we wanted to.
“But in general I felt like I did a good job with my tyre management.
“Good battling, good overtakes when I needed to do them.
“The only other mistake I made in the whole race was being overtaken at the end by Perez. In fairness, he did me fair and square but I’m gutted because that was a crucial overtake.
“It’s been a long season and overall I’m happy.
Norris concluded underlying his developments and learnings acquired over the season with McLaren.
“We made some really good improvements and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. As a team, we’ve done an excellent job and I’m already really look forward to next season.
“Thanks to the entire team for making my rookie F1 season so cool!”
