In the closing laps of last weekend’s street race on the Marina Bay track, Sainz slowed down to give DRS to the following Lando Norris in an attempt to keep George Russell and Lewis Hamilton behind on their fresher tyres.
In the end, the ploy worked, and Sainz and Norris finished first and second, with Hamilton taking third after Russell crashed on the last lap.
At Suzuka, the positions were reversed, with Sainz catching up Russell and Hamilton, who were running fifth and sixth.
On older tyres, Russell was told to invert the positions and let Hamilton through, and Russell then asked if Hamilton could in turn give him DRS and help him to defend from Sainz.
Hamilton responded “understood” but the strategy only worked briefly before Sainz got past Russell, having told his team, “they are using my tricks against me!”
Sainz admitted that he found the scenario unfolding in front of him amusing.
“Yeah, I found it [funny], actually,” he said when asked by Autosport about his comment.
“I was laughing in the car because I could see Lewis backing off in 130R to give the DRS to George.
“And I was like, I need to make sure I attack George into the chicane. If I don’t throw him offline, it’s going to be impossible to pass them.
“And I went very deep into the chicane, managed to get a bit of a switchback, and then I used the DRS, slipstream on everything to pass him. It was good fun. And yeah, it nearly cost me my own position with my own tricks.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Sainz felt that Mercedes might have been better off if he’d had Hamilton rather than Russell immediately in front of him.
“I think maybe they had a better chance, honestly speaking, if Lewis would have stayed behind,” he said. “But at the same time I would have tried a move on Lewis because George was very slow in the Esses, and [Turn] eight and nine.
“So I would have tried into [Turn] 11 or into 13, because they were both very slow there. So we will never know. But it would have been riskier to leave also Lewis behind, because if I got Lewis, I got George.”
Sainz conceded that it wasn’t easy to attack Hamilton in the closing laps, as the Mercedes driver still had plenty of pace.
“I think today Suzuka proved to be quite tricky to overtake,” he said. “And track position was fundamental. I think I was four or five-tenths quicker than Lewis, closing in on him.
“And I don’t think that’s enough delta to pass. Last two laps, I was quicker. But it gets to a point where if you’re not one second quicker, you’re not passing. Also, Charles [Leclerc] took quite a long time to pass George on very worn hards for George.
“And it just proved to me that today it was all about track position, which is what we lost at the pitstop. We were four seconds in front of Lewis – we exit eight behind.”
