Publications
Partners
Carlos Sainz might not have physically been on the third step on Sunday, but winning his first podium has been an incredible moment for McLaren, and the Spaniard.
McLaren had a very rough year in 2018, and the 2019 season has inevitably been better for the Woking-based team. Carlos Sainz Jnr and his rookie team mate Lando Norris has seen their cars performing better but leading the pack from mid-field seemed as far as it would have gone for the year.
According to GrandPrix247: "The last time a McLaren driver stood on the podium was at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix of 2014 when Kevin Magnussen ended up second and Jenson Button third due to then Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo being disqualified from second."
The Brazilian Grand Prix was packed with drama, from Valtteri Bottas engine giving in and bringing out the safety car for his DNF, to Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel making contact and taking each other out with punctures.
Alex Albon had looked set to make it a Red Bull 1-2 finish after the Ferrari drama, but Lewis Hamilton had painstakingly made contact with the rookie, making him lose out to any contention for the podium. The Brit went on to finish third but the place was short-lived when he received a 5-second penalty after the race, demoting him to seventh position.
This meant that Sainz was bumped up to fourth in a well-deserved promotion after starting the race dead last in 20th place. McLaren could not have asked for a better result.
Naturally, Twitterville went ballistic. Here are some of the most emotional, and funny, tweets we saw from Sainz's third place promotion:
