Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc forced to “lift and coast” due to brake issue in F1 sprint

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were forced to manage the brakes on their Ferrari during the F1 sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Despite getting past George Russell on the opening lap of the F1 sprint, Sainz was unable to defend from the Mercedes driver, ultimately losing out.

The Spaniard was then forced to go on the defensive as he managed to keep Lewis Hamilton behind to keep fifth.

It transpired after the race that both Ferrari drivers were managing their brake temperatures and thus their pace was compromised.

Speaking about the race, Sainz told Sky Sports F1: “We had a good start. We managed to get the DRS of Piastri but we had brake issues. We had to lift and coast, and that made me lose DRS to Piastri, and vulnerable to George.

“In the end, George passed me. The brakes stabilised a bit and we managed to keep Lewis behind.

“You could see that they were just a bit quicker than us together. That’s the situation unfortunately.”

It was a similar story for Leclerc, who started from 10th on the grid.

Leclerc was unable to complete a lap in SQ3 after an anti-stall issue kept him in the pit lane.

While Leclerc was able to move up to seventh after the opening lap, he was unable to make any further progress.

“We did the best we could do,” Leclerc explained. “To be honest, we did most of the positions at the start After the start, the pace is just not good enough. We had to manage quite a lot the brakes, the last car in the queue.

“Having changed something, I don’t think it would change a lot. We’re just not fast enough at the moment. 

“We need to look into it because we’re just struggling quite a bit.”