Carlos Sainz Jr. felt it was a positive Qualifying session for Scuderia Ferrari on Friday, with the Spaniard set to start Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race from sixth on the grid.
Sainz thanked his team for the hard work after staying up late following the delays in getting their equipment after freight delays between Mexico and Brazil, but he was able to get through to Q3 and set a time good enough for the third row.
The only downside was losing out to Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Pierre Gasly for fifth on the grid, and he will be looking to get ahead of the Frenchman in the Sprint Qualifying race so he can start Sunday’s main race from higher up the field.
“It was a positive qualifying today as I keep improving my driving style and the feeling with this car at all types of tracks and in all conditions,” said Sainz. “I am performing more consistently in qualifying and today was a good day.
“The only downside is that the AlphaTauri seems to have a bit more pace, so the aim for tomorrow is to try and beat Pierre Gasly and lead the chase to the teams ahead. A clean race tomorrow is key to have good chances on Sunday, so we’ll make sure we are in the best possible position to maximise the weekend.
“I want to thank the entire race team for staying up late and doing such a good job yesterday night to give us a competitive car today. On to tomorrow!”
“I had higher expectations for myself” – Charles Leclerc
Team-mate Charles Leclerc will line-up seventh on the grid, with the Monegasque racer feeling it was a solid job by the team under the circumstances of the delayed freight.
Leclerc initially struggled to escape Q1 after losing a time for track limits at turn four, but he was then able to get into the top ten shootout relatively easily.
However, he admits he did not get everything out of the car when it mattered, and it meant he was only able to secure a fourth row start for Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying race.
“We’re going to do everything we can to maximise our potential for tomorrow’s Sprint Qualifying, which will be the final one of this season,” said Leclerc.
“To start from sixth and seventh is a solid job from the team, and even though I had higher expectations for myself, what is most important for us is that we kept our direct competitors behind us today. Q3 was tricky. I did my first run on used tyres which was not ideal for getting into a rhythm, and on the second run we didn’t extract everything from the car.
“We still have some work to do and will push to bring home good results tomorrow and, even more importantly, on Sunday.”
