Carlos Sainz using Real Madrid's win vs Man City as inspiration to find Ferrari form

Carlos Sainz is planning to take inspiration from Real Madrid's remarkable Champions League comeback as he bids to get his F1 campaign back on track in Miami. On Wednesday night, Real stunned Manchester City in the second leg of their semi-final, scoring twice late on to force extra time. There, a Karim Benzema penalty sealed an aggregate 6-5 win in a one of the most dramatic ties in the history of the competition.

Fair to say that Spaniard Sainz hasn't been enjoying the same levels of euphoria of his favourite football team of late. He began the season with two podium finishes, second behind teammate Charles Leclerc in Bahrain before coming third in Saudi Arabia.

But in Australia, Sainz encountered steering problems and duly spun off the track, forcing him to retire. Another disaster was to follow at Emilia Romagna, with the 27-year-old forced out on the opening lap following a collision with McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo.

It leaves him fifth in the standings on 38 points, a full 48 behind overall leader Leclerc. And whilst it is the Scuderia who lead the constructors' race, Sainz can ill-afford anymore bad luck if he is to fulfil his desire to mount a title challenge.

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And now his primary goal is a weekend in Miami without any incidents or technical problems: "I think it is more about a clean weekend more than anything else," he told reporters. "The last two races I've been quicker in pure pace than the first two but the results have been worse.

"I was quite unlucky in Imola too, things out of my control, but [there are still] 19 races and like Real showed in sport everything can change in a matter of minutes. I'm still