Melbourne
Lying in bed just nine days ago with the wound from his appendectomy still tender, Carlos Sainz had held no expectation of even competing in the Australian Grand Prix. Yet there was the Spaniard in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, roared on by an appreciative crowd when he climbed from his car after a victory as unlikely as it was valiant.
An achievement with doubtless special resonance for Sainz, the driver who had comeback from surgery and helped return Ferrari’s first one-two since 2022 as world champion Max Verstappen’s dominant run of victories came to an explosive end, but who, as yet, does not have a Formula One drive for next season.
Before the season began the 29-year-old had been dealt a body blow when Ferrari announced they were to drop him for Lewis Hamilton in 2025. A dispiriting moment to which he responded in feisty fashion with a podium at the season opener in Bahrain only for further ill-fortune to then strike when two weeks ago he was forced to withdraw from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with appendicitis.
The 29-year-old’s preparation could not have been less suitable. He is still far from fully recovered, had lost several kilos of weight, could not complete the usual fitness and simulator work pre-race and admitted that coping with the intense G-forces at Albert Park after the operation was a unique challenge.
He had noted on Saturday after qualifying with a surprising level of sangfroid just quite the effect a return to the car was having, observing of his body that “everything in the inside just feels like it’s moving more than normal”.
A notion such as to induce queasiness while sitting down with a cup of tea, let alone hurtling round one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar.
Yet there he was not only on the grid but the driver closest to Verstappen, lining up in second behind him. Of course Verstappen promptly showed a clean pair of heels from the off and the prospect of a further 58 laps of the Dutchman’s dominance loomed only for fate to finally throw Sainz a bone.
With Verstappen struggling with a stuck brake, Sainz swept past before smoke began bellowing from the world champion’s right rear tyre. Unstoppable for a nine-race run, Verstappen was finally floored as the brake exploded while he crawled into the pit lane, smoke, dust and flame ejected sideways with similar anger to that the Dutchman displayed when he climbed from his car. His race was done after four laps and Red Bull’s record of mechanical infallibility, held since Bahrain in 2022, was also over.
Sainz took advantage to then deliver a consummate, controlled drive, doubtless minding his stitches, as on a circuit notoriously hard on the tyres he eased his rubber through the race with the gentle touch of the shrewdest trout tickler. On the in-lap after the flag he gave his traditional rendition of “smooth operator”, most assuredly deserved. “Spending seven days in bed is, for your physical fitness and for all the muscles, just not very healthy for an athlete,” he said afterwards.
He had, accordingly, done everything to attempt to speed the recovery, using hyperbaric chambers twice a day and an Indiba device that deploys electrical charges to accelerate tissue healing. There was a diet and timetable to dictate periods and what exercise he could manage.
