Sainz, 29, had started fourth on the grid, behind eventual race winner Max Verstappen, teammate Charles Leclerc and George Russell. But he forced his way in front of the latter two and despite Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez coming from fifth on the grid to take second, Sainz produced an impressive drive.
On the contrary, Hamilton continues to struggle at Mercedes, and was seventh on Sunday to leave him still without a Grand Prix win since December 2022. But he is expected to be more competitive with the Italian giants, and would have relished Sainz describing how he finally had a car he could drive aggressively with.
“It’s a bit of a relief because the last race where I was attacking was Austria and we’re talking about 13, 14 races ago,” he said, via Autosport. “And then the rest of the races last year you just had to manage, look in the mirrors, control your pace. And there were very little opportunities to go and overtake people.
“I love going racing, and I love going overtaking, being aggressive, attacking. And with last year’s car, it was simply impossible to do that. I remember at the car launch saying this year I wish we had a car to go racing and attack people and don’t care too much about the tyres.
“And it’s exactly what we got,” he added. “I got an attacking race, a really good race pace and from there everything felt really good to finish P3. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Amid the start of F1’s new era of regulations in 2022, Sainz voiced his intention to challenge for the world title. But a challenge never materialised, finishing down in fifth place and more than 200 points behind champion Verstappen.
And 2023 also proved a disappointment, with the ex-McLaren man down in seventh despite a Grand Prix win in Singapore. But early indications suggest he is in a stronger position to disrupt the Red Bull pairing this season.
That’s a notion that would no doubt excite Hamilton, who will be hoping Ferrari make further upgrades ahead of 2025 when he’ll chase an unprecedented eighth world title. And with his own attacking instincts currently curtailed at the Silver Arrows, F1 fans will also be excited at the prospect of the icon back to his best in a formidable car.
