Sainz charged through the order from 19th on the grid having taken an engine change penalty for the Circuit Paul Ricard race, and following team-mate Charles Leclerc’s crash while leading, the Spaniard had battled Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for third place.
But just as he launched an overtake on Perez through the final sequence of corners, Sainz was told to pit, having gone for an alternative strategy to the frontrunners having started on hards and pitted earlier in the race for mediums.
