Carlos Sainz was left frustrated by a fourth-place finish at his home event in Spain, despite recovering from errors at the start of the race. The Ferrari driver's podium chances were dealt a blow after a poor start and a spin at Turn 4 in the opening stages sent him out of the points positions. Despite the off, Sainz was able to recover to fourth place and pick up valuable points on a disappointing day for Ferrari. Speaking after the race, Sainz explained that car damage sustained in the spin hampered his recovery. "It was a long, tough race for us," Sainz told Sky Sports F1 . "After the gust of wind and the spin, I tried to recover, but the car was not the same after that. I picked up quite a lot of damage, and I was sliding all around trying to get back onto the podium. "In the end, fourth is not what I wanted. I was struggling throughout the whole race, but that's how it goes sometimes."
Sainz praises home fans on "tough day"
Starting the race in third, Sainz had hopes of challenging the top two for victory, despite struggling to match teammate Charles Leclerc's pace throughout the weekend. With both Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen having their own dramas to contend with, Sainz was left to rue a missed opportunity at his home event. Nevertheless, Sainz praised the reception he received from the fans at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, despite "everything" going wrong. "It (the fans' support) helped me to not give up," said Sainz. "After the spin, I was out of the points and, even with a damaged car, I tried my best to recover, but it wasn't our day. "The start, the spin... just everything went the wrong way, then to do nearly a full race distance with the amount of damage that I had... it was quite tough."
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