Sainz explains 'instinctive' DRS move that enabled Singapore win

Carlos Sainz has explained the 'instinctive' process behind utilising the DRS to enable him to win the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was under pressure from the two Mercedes towards the end of the race, when the pair pitted during a late Virtual Safety Car for Esteban Ocon's stricken Alpine.

Their lap times were over a second quicker in the final quarter of the race, with Sainz having to think on his feet on how to protect his lead against the tyre advantage.

Ferrari had already instructed him to back the pack up to prevent the Red Bull's of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez from overtaking after an earlier Safety Car.

With Lando Norris behind on the same Hard tyres, Sainz managed to utilise the DRS zones to create a 'train' effect which would make it tough for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to overtake.

The tactic worked, but it was not without its risk according to the Ferrari driver who claimed he had to act on his "instincts" to make the move work.

Sainz: You need to trust your instincts

"This is a sort of strategy that you always keep in the back of your head in tracks like Singapore, where it might come in useful at some point," he told media, including RacingNews365.

"Obviously, it’s easy to think about it, it's easy to have in mind, but it's a lot more difficult to execute it because it does put you under some extra pressure and it comes with its risks.

"It's all about having that commitment to do it and to put yourself under that extra risk. But I felt like that was my only real chance of winning the race and I wanted to win.

"Especially when I heard that 1.3s/ 1.4s gap up to Lando after he defended into 16, to take the decision to slow down in Turn One and Turn Three. I was like ‘well, I hope these works’ because if not it could look really, really bad on me, but it worked.

"Some days you need to trust your instincts, trust your feeling. I've been trusting that, these last two weekends and it's working well."