Carlos Sainz Jr felt he did a good lap during qualifying for the German Grand Prix on Saturday despite feeling his Scuderia Toro Rosso team are struggling on a power-focused circuit such as the Hockenheimring.
The Spaniard finished the qualifying session thirteenth fastest, but a post-session penalty for impeding Felipe Massa during Q2 will see Sainz start down in sixteenth, making his Sunday afternoon points target even more difficult than it would have been.
Despite the penalty, Sainz felt he got the most out of his qualifying lap that put him close to the top ten, missing out by just three-tenths of a second.
“A very difficult qualifying session,” said Sainz. “We are struggling here in Hockenheim – we always knew that a power circuit like this one was going to be a challenge for us, as we are not quick enough on the straights.
“Having said that, I think I put in a very good lap. I feel good in the car and the package is working, but this is the most we could extract from the car today.
“Tomorrow we will try and fight for more points – of course it won’t be easy but we will surely give it our all and try and finish as high up as possible; it would be good to go on holiday with a few more points in the bag!”
