Sunday, 24 September 2023
-    Race: P6, 53 laps

• Carlos Sainz finished sixth in the Japanese GP, a two-stop race where strategy played an important role.
• Sixth on the grid, the Ferrari race driver passed Sergio Perez right at the start to establish himself in fifth place, taking care of tyre degradation.
• The Spaniard completed his first pit-stop on Lap 18, putting on another set of Medium tyres, just like in the first stint.
• The second pit-stop was crucial and costed him the fifth place against Lewis Hamilton, who stopped four laps before the Spaniard, on lap 34.
• Carlos showcased a great race pace and passed George Russell in the closing laps to recover sixth place. In fact, he crossed the finish line within a second from Hamilton. 

QUOTES:
“I think today we had better pace than the result suggests. We had a very good start and we were quick straight away. During the first two stints I managed my tyres well and had good pace, but we got undercut by Lewis after the second stop and that compromised my race. I tried to extend my stint to have better tyres at the end and gave everything to close the gap quickly. Unfortunately, the race was a couple of laps too short for me today and we had to settle for sixth. As always, we will analyse the whole weekend when we are back home to see if we could have done something differently, but on the positive side I think the pace was there today. We will regroup and recharge our batteries before heading off to Qatar.”

COMING UP:
Qatar GP, Lusail International Circuit – 6-8 October 2023