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Having missed the Jeddah race, Sainz spent two weeks focusing on his recovery before returning to the cockpit for Friday’s test at Albert Park.
Although he was fit to drive, his preparation was compromised by skipping practice and not racing in the Ferrari simulator.
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Despite this, he had the advantage over teammate Charles Leclerc in qualifying and after overtaking an ill Max Verstappen in the opening laps, he went on to lead the Italian team’s double.
“This winter we agreed together to attack until the last round of the season,” he said when asked by Autosport to summarize Sainz’s performances.
“And he did a fantastic job.” He was there in Bahrain, he pushed the team as well, and Jeddah was definitely a tough weekend, a tough weekend for Carlos, a tough weekend for the team.
“But the recovery is mega. We must not forget that two weeks ago he was in the hospital. I think even on Friday he wasn’t 100% sure he could drive.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Mark Horsburgh / Motorsport Images
“And after a few laps he was on the pace, and that’s part of his success – because you can’t give up a lap in free practice if you want to perform.
“Of course, it’s amazing. If you look at where it came from, no one expected a result like this.
Vasseur played down the fact that Sainz had an advantage over teammate Leclerc.
“We’re talking plus or minus half a tenth,” he said. “And ranking is one thing, pace is another.
“I think during the race the problem is that we had to cover [Oscar] Piastri at the start wasn’t ideal in terms of race time, that’s for sure.
“We didn’t want to give up track position and we put him in a difficult situation. But in the last stint, he knew more about the degradation of the hard, and he was able to be very consistent and it was a good stint.
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