Carlos Sainz Jr finished today´s first Miami Grand Prix in 3^rd position behind his teammate Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. The Ferrari drivers couldn´t keep their front row lockout and the Spaniard was the first one to lose to the Dutch right at the start. However, a 2-3 is another strong result for the Italians when it comes to the points count in the championship fight.

After a very tiring Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz couldn´t hide his exhaustion and told Willy Ribbs during the post-race interview “I´ve been better. Obviously, after the crash from Friday I still had a bit of a neck pain going into the race but I had to manage it and I fought through it specially with Checo at the end on the medium tyre.”

Heating and tyre management was a challenge for the drivers and Sainz Jr who had to fight with Checo Perez and to defend his podium in his closing stages as the Mexican had fresher and softer tyres, albeit carrying a loss of power: “it was very difficult to keep him behind but we managed to keep the podium which is a decent result. He later added about the tires “it wasn´t easy at all. It´s been a tough race with the tyres and the heat."

The new track was challenging and kept the drivers complaining over the weekend about how difficult it was to get the grip and the dirt on the off line. Sianz Jr explained, "The car was moving and sliding a lot but in the end we got what we deserve I think which is a decent P3 and we can build it up from here.”

Although he was happy with the result after what was a very challenging race he added, “I want more but it´s not bad.”