Carlos Sainz sends Ferrari ‘farewell gift’ as Marko spots missed Verstappen opportunity
Carlos Sainz joined Williams after losing his Ferrari seat at the end of 2024
Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has quipped that Carlos Sainz sent Ferrari a “belated farewell gift” by bringing out the virtual safety car at last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.
His comments came after the VSC cost Max Verstappen the chance to pass Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari for second place.
Helmut Marko: Carlos Sainz sent Ferrari ‘belated farewell gift’ with Mexico VSC
McLaren driver Lando Norris reclaimed the lead of the F1 2025 standings by collecting his sixth victory of the season in Mexico last weekend.
Norris holds a one-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri ahead of the final four rounds, with reigning four-time world champion Verstappen 36 points behind.
After qualifying a disappointing fifth, Verstappen was applying pressure on Leclerc for second place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez when the virtual safety car was deployed for an incident involving Sainz.
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Sainz had spun his Williams and hit the wall at the stadium section, with the Spaniard recovering to an opening in the barrier.
Although the decision to deploy the VSC was considered controversial by some fans, it emerged after the race that Sainz’s car was still in an exposed position and was producing smoke, necessitating a safety-first approach.
Sainz joined Williams at the start of 2025 after four seasons at Ferrari, with which he claimed all four of his F1 career victories.
And Marko has quipped that Sainz’s role in the VSC was a late farewell present to Ferrari, ending Verstappen’s hopes of taking second spot from Leclerc.
He told Sky Germany: “Max had such a great comeback. He was five or six tenths faster on average.
“We were 100 per cent convinced that he would still manage second place, but Sainz gave Ferrari a belated farewell gift.”
More on Carlos Sainz and Williams from PlanetF1.com
Speaking after the race, Sainz insisted that he was consciously trying to avoid a safety car or VSC by recovering his car to a safe place.
And he revealed that Williams had been planning to retire his car even before the spin after an eventful race, which saw him hit with two separate penalties for speeding in the pit lane.
As revealed by PlanetF1.com, Sainz suffered damage to his wheel-speed sensors in a first-lap collision with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson in Mexico, resulting in his pit-lane transgressions.
He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “I went into the inside of the barrier with the car to try and avoid any safety car or VSC.
“I think I did the safest thing I could do.
“I was just pushing. I had behind Lance [Stroll], pushing flat out to see if I could get P14. I had overheating on the tyre and I had a half spin.
“But anyway, we were going to retire the car.
“I felt like I put the car in a safe enough [place]. I don’t know if it was a VSC, double yellow [flags] or what, but I definitely tried to avoid any of that.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
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