Sainz: Monaco F1 podium “doesn’t taste as good as it should” due to Leclerc DNS

Leclerc was unable to take part in the race after he encountered a driveshaft issue on his way to the grid.

This promoted Sainz to third on the grid, where he ran for much of the race.

The Spaniard moved up to second after Valtteri Bottas was forced to retire following an issue when he made his pit stop.

Reflecting on his first podium in the principality, Sainz said: “It is a good result. If you would have told me before coming to Monaco that I would finish second, I would have definitely taken [it]. It’s just the whole circumstances of the weekend having Charles on pole, me missing out in quali yesterday, on a good lap.

“It’s just maybe doesn’t taste as good as it should but I am sure when I reflect back on the weekend I will be very happy and proud of the weekend and I think Ferrari as a team, they need to be proud about the car and the step they’ve done this year.”

Sainz revealed Leclerc’s failure to start the race was on his mind and put more pressure on him to deliver a strong result.

“When you see the other car not starting from pole, all of a sudden the responsibility relies on you to try and salvage a bit the weekend,” Sainz added.

“One car is out, starting from pole and you want to give the team at least a podium and it was all about getting the start right and then around the pit stops there was a lot of traffic, we were lapping the cars very quickly and obviously Valtteri had the pitstop but even without that I was feeling really good with the car today and I felt like the team at least deserved a podium this weekend.”