Carlos Sainz Jr. says it is pleasing to be starting the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position this weekend, and it was good to have the benefit of a tow from team-mate Charles Leclerc during Q3.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver was second fastest overall on Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps behind Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman’s grid penalty for unscheduled engine component changes means he moves up to top spot for Sunday’s race.
Sainz believes Ferrari should be competitive on Sunday, although he is expecting Red Bull to be a factor, particularly with Sergio Pérez joining him on the front row and Verstappen being extremely fast all weekend long.
“We had a good qualifying and I’m happy to be starting on pole here in Spa,” said Sainz. “It was today’s goal and we achieved it with perfect team work together with Charles. Now we need to focus on ourselves and make sure to keep our competitors behind us tomorrow.
“Defending from them won’t be easy, especially at the start, as their performance has been very strong this weekend. I’m ready for a race in which we will fight with everything we have to bring home another win.
“In terms of race pace, I think we should be competitive.”
“Our target was not to find that last tenth today” – Charles Leclerc
Team-mate Leclerc knew he would be dropping down the order thanks to an engine penalty of his own this weekend, and he did everything he could to benefit Sainz on Saturday.
Leclerc’s best time was good enough for fourth, but he will start only sixteenth on Sunday once his penalties are applied, and he admits his car was not set up for Qualifying due to the fact he would be starting towards the back anyway.
The Monegasque racer felt his long-run pace throughout the weekend in Belgium has been strong so far, and he hopes to make early gains and fight back through the field to score big points on Sunday.
“It wasn’t the most exciting qualifying on my side, given the penalty we will take tomorrow,” said Leclerc. “There was a bit of potential to improve the driving or the car’s set-up – however, our target was not to find that last tenth today.
“Our competitors have been very fast since the start of the weekend, and looking at the gap we had to them today shows us that it will not be an easy race.
“I don’t have a clear objective for tomorrow; what I want is to maximize the result. Our race pace was quite good yesterday so hopefully, with a strong first stint and a lot of overtakes, we can come back quickly and fight at the front.”
