The Spaniard admits he risked locking up and hitting team-mate Charles Leclerc when he dived down the inside and took a very tight line into Turn 1.
It paid off as he passed Hamilton and jumped from fourth to third. But the Mercedes driver ultimately had more pace, and a few laps later Sainz was pushed back to the fourth place that he held at the finish, before Hamilton’s post-race disqualification gifted him third again.
Asked by Autosport about the move, he said: “It was tight because if I lock up or anything, I take Charles and Lando with me because there's such a tight angle, but I did a bit of Monaco Loews turn and made it work! It's always tight here the first lap, very tight."
Sainz was satisfied with his race, not least because in an event without safety cars he finished just 15.1 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen, and 4.4s behind Norris.
After the flag, he told the team that he was “surprised” to be so close to the McLaren.
“Honestly, if you would have told me yesterday after seeing how much we struggled against the McLaren and Mercs that today we would be fighting them, I would have been quite happy,” he said.
“Especially because Lando at one point in the first stint was very far ahead, and then we must have done a good job catching back, with a good, solid pace. I think today we didn't invent anything, we just did our race, and we were very quick, so I'm quite happy with that."
Source: Autosport