Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
Autosport Plus

The numbers that prove Monza 2023 was Sainz’s best F1 race weekend

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OPINION: Having starred in the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was still charmingly modest in refusing to declare it his best overall weekend performance in the championship. But, aside from how his glorious defeat resonated with watching fans, there’s a key statistic that shows why it really was

To the Tifosi screaming his name underneath the Monza podium, he was a god. To the muggers he chased down on the streets of Milan later that night, he was justice incarnate. To the members of the Formula 1 press corps listening to his reflections on the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, he was the same charming, erudite, Carlos Sainz.

Was this his best F1 race weekend performance, I asked him? You know how his childhood-hero-turned-racing-rival Fernando Alonso would’ve answered. Sainz’s reply, wonderfully predictably, was as down-to-earth as ever.

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