Sainz bemoans Ferrari ‘messy radio’ after costly error

Carlos Sainz has addressed the "messy radio communication" that saw him dive out of pit entry at the last moment during the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Usually considered a slam-dunk penalty, the incident was curiously not investigated by the stewards, but the Spaniard pointed out that he paid the price regardless.

To compound that mistake, Sainz felt he and the Scuderia "simply didn't execute" during the race, arguing each stint was extended too long en route to a third-place finish.

As for the pit entry faux pas, upon being called in to pit for a second time on lap 28 of 50, the team hastily told him to stay out as they were not ready for him, something that provoked Sainz to chastise them over radio, calling on the team to "wake up".

The Ferrari driver tallied up the lost seconds in chaos, suggesting it prevented him for fighting Lewis Hamilton for second place.

"We just simply didn't execute in general," the 30-year-old told media including RacingNews365. "We just didn't execute a very good race.

"I think we stayed out one lap too late on mediums, two laps too late on hards.

"And by the time I was going to pit, we had this messy radio communication in the pit entry, which probably made me lose that lap that I was completely grained and I had to let pass Charles plus the two or three seconds that I lost in the pit entry.

"That means a lot of race time that maybe would have meant we could have ended up fighting Lewis [Hamilton]."

Team-mate Charles Leclerc was also vocal via radio, lamenting Sainz's conduct after the chequered flag.

As the Monegasque driver re-entered the race after his final stop, he was assured the Spaniard, who had already endured the pit stop confusion, would not put him under pressure from behind.

However, Sainz ignored his instructions and re-passed the 27-year-old anyway, much to Leclerc's ire.

Nevertheless, Sainz was keen to reiterate that Ferrari has "been doing things really well" on the race strategy front for much of the season, highlighting the need to recapture that for the rounds to come.

"It just shows that in this sport, you need to do things perfectly week in, week out," the four-time grand prix winner said.

"We've been doing things really well in strategy and on race management all year around, "but today wasn't our day.

"We just didn't do things well and we will have to learn from it and make sure we come back in Qatar stronger."