Carlos Sainz believes turning in the 🦹best drive of his career to date led to his maiden Formula 1 podium at the 😼Brazilian Grand Prix.

After a loss of power during qualifying left him at the bac🍎k of the Inter𝔉lagos grid, the Spaniard recovered from dead last on a one-stop strategy to finish a remarkable fourth on the road during a hectic race.

A post-race five-second time penalty issued to Lewis Hamilton for colliding with Alexander Albon on the penultimate lap elevatedཧ Sainz onto the podium, ending McLaren’s five-year wait for a rostrum.

“Who would ♏have told me yesterday, when I was so angry about the day that everything was going to turnaround and I was going to go from P20 to P3,” Sainz said.

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet but it’s a very special feeling. Also💧, the way it developed and the chance to get on the podium with all my team there two hours after the race was also weird but very, very special. A day t♓hat I will never forget.

“It’s time to celebrate but it’s also time t💦o keep pushing. I think we are in the right direction and♋ I think McLaren deserves this trophy as much as I deserve it.”

Sainz described McLaren’s decision to stick to a one-stop strategy as a “gamble” but despite being vulnerable at the final Safety Car restart, he successfully fended off the Alfa Rom꧑eo duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.

“I had literally no grip, I was wheel spinning in literally fourth gear at the restart,” he explained. “We were so slow so I couldn’t put any ⛄energy in the tyre.

“I got to Turn 1, locked up, just no grip but somehow I managed to pick 🦋up the right lines and maybe the rally skills there started helping to handle the car.

“From there onwards it was just defend, defend, defend as much as I could and we managed to finish. It w🤪as a race of full attack mode. It was my best [race], definit💙ely.”

﷽The result also confirmed McLaren has clinched fourth spot in the constructors' championship ahead of rivals Renault with one round to spare.