It wasn’t the qualifying session Carlos Sainz anticipated. The earlier yr’s winner crashed into the limitations on the final nook early in Q3, severely damaging the rear of his Ferrari and inflicting a crimson flag.
Happily, he wasn’t bodily affected, solely feeling disappointment. Carlos Sainz acknowledged that the error was his and attributed it to a number of components: the shortage of grip, a bump, and a contact of misfortune.
The Madrid-born driver defined that having to let some automobiles go on the finish of the circuit hindered his lap preparation, leaving him with chilly tires as he approached the final nook.
“I used to be already on the chilly facet after I began my lap, and because it was Q3, I wished a very good exit from the final nook. The issue was that I used to be a lot slower coming into in comparison with Q2 and Q1, and I wished to speed up earlier to make up that point; in any other case, I might lose a tenth within the first straight earlier than even beginning the lap. I underestimated the shortage of grip with chilly tires there.”
“I used to be below strain, with one other automobile approaching from behind, and I knew from the out lap that I might be slower in my lap.”
One other key issue, Carlos Sainz stated, was a bump on the curb at flip 17 that caught him off guard. He takes accountability and apologizes to the group for his misjudgment. This weekend has been fully completely different in comparison with 2023, because the Ferrari driver famous: “It’s unusual how issues can change from one yr to the following. However as we’ve seen many instances this yr, getting the tires into the proper window on a lap with our automobile is… fairly tough.”
“I had a few respectable laps this weekend, however general I used to be very inconsistent. Yesterday, I had points with the brakes, which didn’t assist my weekend preparation. Right here, it’s about constructing confidence, making good laps from FP1 to Q3, and I didn’t do this this weekend. I struggled. I couldn’t discover my rhythm yesterday, and right now it was robust to get the tires and brakes into the window.”
It’s been an uncommon weekend in some ways: Carlos Sainz identified that McLaren gave the impression to be hiding on Friday, with Norris enhancing by a second in FP3 in comparison with FP2, whereas “in Q3, they had been solely a tenth quicker than in FP3, which is kind of unusual.”
“There’s one thing odd, in all probability, in tire preparation and the way a lot might be extracted from the tires this weekend, as a result of it’s not regular for there to be only a tenth between the quickest lap in FP3 and Q3.”
It’s been a day to overlook for the Maranello group, particularly since Charles Leclerc will begin ninth on account of his time being canceled for a observe restrict violation. So, it’s a fifth row all in crimson, with each drivers hoping for a flip of occasions to contend for high positions.
“The automobile appears fairly broken, and I don’t know what we’ll do. I simply hope to have a traditional race tomorrow, discover the rhythm I had in Baku, and present good tempo. I imagine that when we discover our rhythm in the course of the race, we ought to be superb. It solely took one lap with the tires’ magic to make all the pieces work—I imply, the error I made isn’t typical and reveals that there’s a really, very superb line between having grip and never having it. This weekend has been like that. So tomorrow, as soon as I discover my rhythm, we’ll be there.”
Carlos Sainz additionally mentioned the much-debated tire difficulty, expressing confusion about what’s occurring at some tracks the place the tires have been difficult to handle. “5 to 10 levels beneath the optimum degree means zero grip. And sure, even 5 to 10 levels above, there’s no adhesion. So, discovering the proper window is essential.”
Regardless of the blow (each ethical and in any other case), he stays optimistic for tomorrow’s race, particularly with the added DRS zone in comparison with final yr.
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