During a dry first stint of a mixed-weather Monaco race, Sainz was wedged in between third-placed Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton when the latter was called into the pits by Mercedes on lap 33.
Ferrari opted to respond by bringing Sainz in on the next lap to avoid an undercut by Hamilton.
But in doing so, it also gave up the possibility of challenging Ocon for third, which would have been Sainz's first podium of a tough 2023 season.
That caused an angry response from Sainz, who at the time thought Ferrari's call was "weak" as he was more interested in going for a podium than conserving fourth.
Soon after the race, Sainz apologised for his outburst and ahead of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix he explained his thinking at the time.
When asked by Autosport if his disagreement with the team was down to the Spaniard having a more aggressive mindset than his squad, he said: "I think it's a fair assessment.
"I think I was honestly quite vocal about wanting to go and get that podium and maybe risking on staying on the hard.
"But I also fully understand the team perspective. We are fighting for the team championship with Mercedes, there's Lewis behind who just did a very quick out-lap on the hards and we have to protect from him and over the position.
"At that space in time, when I left the pits behind Esteban, I was quite frustrated about that."
Source: Autosport