Martin Brundle praises Carlos Sainz after his 20th to 3rd performance in Brazil

Carlos Sainz recorded his best-ever performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix after he was boosted up to third due to Lewis Hamilton's five-second penalty. Martin Brundle was impressed with how the McLaren driver performed after starting the race from the back of the grid. 

"A star of the show was Sainz who started 20th and last after technical issues in qualifying," Brundle said in his Sky Sports F1 column. 

"Stopping only once for tyres on lap 29, he coaxed his car and tyres past many rivals and just kept making progress. The two Safety Car periods generated both threat and opportunity given Sainz's tyres were well used 'medium' compounds which would not be great at warming back up.

"His podium is in the record books but he did not have the feeling of being up there to experience the true satisfaction in front of a global audience."

Sainz is regarded as a very fast driver. He will hope that McLaren can continue to improve and that he can get on the podium more often in years to come.