MY ACCOUNT
Real Madrid’s dramatic Champions League turnaround against Manchester City showed Carlos Sainz he has plenty of time to get his Formula One season back on track.
Riyad Mahrez looked to have done enough to deny Madrid a place in the final of Europe’s premier club competition on Tuesday but two last-gasp goals from Rodrygo forced extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Karim Benzema’s penalty then gave the Spanish giants a 6-5 aggregate semi-final victory to book their place in the showpiece match against Liverpool.
Madrid fan Sainz is finding himself under pressure to turn things around at Ferrari, having been forced to retire in the opening stages of the previous two races.
Ahead of this weekend’s maiden Miami Grand Prix, Sainz joked that anything is still possible for him this season given the feat Madrid managed to pull off.
“Missing the 600 kilometres [of the past two races] hurts me more than the zero points, because the kilometres are what make you learn about the car and the new regulations,” he told AS.
“I did a test in Imola in which I also had a problem, but we are recovering as best we can. It’s part of the athlete’s life. There are always better and worse moments.
“The last two races have not been ideal – far from it – but we have also had a bit of bad luck. Now we want a clean weekend to try to recover.
“Madrid had it worse. I have 19 races left. Madrid had five minutes left!”
However, Sainz revealed that promotional duties meant he missed Rodrygo’s late double.
“It was amazing. I missed the last few minutes of chaos because I was in the middle of an event with Shell. It shows that nothing is decided until the last minute,” he added.
