“Very happy to finish ahead of those who wanted me to be penalized" - Carlos Sainz takes a jibe at Mercedes F1

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz took aim at rival teams after finishing P6 in the inaugural F1 Las Vegas GP despite his 10-place grid penalty. The Las Vegas Strip turned out to be good for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc finished second and Sainz followed him on P6.

Carlos Sainz, who was awarded a penalty for exceeding the allotted number of energy stores in the season, was not impressed with the decision. According to him, the penalty was unfair as the component had to be changed because of the loose manhole cover on the track in FP1, which severely damaged his Ferrari.

However, after finishing ahead of both Mercedes drivers, Sainz said that he was glad to have pipped his rivals who wanted to see him penalized.

"I'm very happy to finish ahead of those who wanted me to be penalized," Sportsmanor quoted him as saying.

Earlier, Carlos Sainz had said that there were rival teams who would have wanted to see him get penalized. Racefans quoted him as saying:

"For sure there will be rival teams pushing for me to get a penalty which surprises me in a way. In another [way], I’ve been in the sport for too long to understand that this business… there’s too much money involved in the finishing position in the constructors’ or whatever for a team not to threaten to apply for a penalty for me."

There is only one team that Ferrari can get ahead of in the standings: Mercedes. It is fairly evident that Carlos Sainz's remark about the finishing position was targeted at the Brackley-based outfit.

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Ferrari closes in on Mercedes after Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc's impressive finishes in Vegas

After the Las Vegas GP, Ferrari are only four points away from second-placed Mercedes in the constructor's standings. A single position gained by a team could make a difference of millions of dollars, and so the battle continues to be hotly contested.

There was a 20-point gap between the two teams ahead of the race in Las Vegas. But after Charles Leclerc took home P2, overtaking Sergio Perez on the final lap, and Carlos Sainz finished P6 ahead of both the Mercedes, the gap has shrunk.

Although George Russell did finish ahead of Sainz's Ferrari, he had a five-second time penalty after making contact with Max Verstappen earlier in the race. Owing to this penalty, the Briton dropped down to P8, just behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

F1 will head to Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season next week, with Ferrari and Mercedes locked in a very tight battle for the second position in the standings.