Singapore Grand Prix winner, Carlos Sainz, has spoken of his delight and relief at bagging his first win of the season.

Sunday’s race was the first of the season that wasn’t won by a Red Bull, but Sainz, who is now fifth in the driver’s championship, said he felt in control the whole time.

Speaking after the race Sainz said: “It’s an incredible feeling and an incredible weekend – I want to thank everyone at Ferrari.

“Managing to win after a tricky beginning, but we now nailed the weekend, we nailed the race and we did everything we had to do, and we did it perfectly. We brought home P1 and I’m sure the whole of Italy and the whole of Ferrari are going to be proud and happy today.”

Reflecting on the race itself and the overall strategy Sainz said the big focus for the team had been on tyre wear. “It was all about keeping our limitations with tire wear and degradation and all about managing the stints to make sure I made it to the target laps we wanted to do in each compound.

“Obviously a safety car caused us to pit even earlier than we wanted, and I knew it was going to be a long stint on hard.

“I felt under control, to be honest, I always felt like I had the headspace and the pace in hand to do whatever I wanted to do and I’m not going to lie, you are under pressure, obviously you are very close to making any kind of mistake, but I felt under control and that I could manage well.

“We brought it home and that’s the best feeling, I’m over the moon right now,” he said.

Ferrari will be looking to build on their new-found form as the circus moves to Suzuka in Japan for the next race on 24th September.