"Extremely happy" Carlos Sainz reviews his first ever F1 podium

Carlos Sainz picked up his first podium in his Formula 1 career after a superb drive from the back of the grid. The Spaniard benefited from Lewis Hamilton's penalty, but unfortunately for him, the penalty was decided after the podium celebrations. Therefore, the McLaren driver missed out on the champagne and trophy presentation. He describes the weird feelings. 

“Yes! What a day! It’s a weird first podium not being there straight after the race, but I’m extremely happy with our race today. To finish P3 coming all the way from the back of the grid was a big challenge, but we fought until the end with everything we had!" an excited Sainz reported. 

Sainz, who got himself in a good position thanks to a one-stop strategy still had some work to do in the closing stages of the race with two safety car restarts. He explains how he tackled the challenges he faced. 

"It was a very eventful race and I think I was the only car to do a one-stop strategy. It was really difficult to hold the other midfield cars behind after the two Safety Car re-starts, but I managed to defend my position well and took advantage of what happened at the front of the race," Sainz added. 

"A good first stint, a great pit-stop from the guys and a very challenging and long stint to bring it home and finish P3 for the first time in my career. Congrats to the whole team, here and back in Woking! My first podium is obviously very special but we need to keep pushing to step up there on pure pace! That’s what we’re really here for, that has to be our goal!”

With that result, McLaren nailed down a fourth-place finish in the F1 driver standings. Meanwhile, Alex Albon went to the back of the grid after contact with Hamilton. Sainz is back ahead of the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver but is level on points with Pierre Gasly who finished the Brazilian Grand Prix in second.