Carlos Sainz had a brilliant qualifying session ahead of his home race in Spain this weekend. The Spanish GP qualifying session saw Sainz put on a brilliant lap and finish just behind Max Verstappen who took pole. Even though he will start the race from the front row on Sunday, Sainz admits that he would have been happier if Lando Norris or Lewis Hamilton started ahead of him.
Norris himself had an amazing qualifying session where he managed to finish P3. It was an incredible result for McLaren given that their car has been struggling throughout the season. As for Hamilton, the Briton finished in fifth place behind Pierre Gasly. However, he will be starting the race from P4 after Gasly was handed a grid penalty for impeding Verstappen and Sainz.
Sainz will have the inside line at the start of the race and will have an amazing opportunity to attack Max Verstappen into turn 1. However, the Ferrari driver has said that he would have preferred if Hamilton or Norris were doing that instead of him.
Carlos Sainz wanted to start behind Lando Norris
Right after qualifying, the media asked Sainz what his approach for Sunday’s race will be. He said, “I wouldn’t have minded if Lewis or Lando had out-qualified me because here the clean side is a bit better for the start.”
Sainz gave another reason why he wanted to start right behind Max Verstappen and not alongside him. “But it’s also all about the tow and how lucky you get if you can get a tow down to Turn 1,” said Sainz to Motorsport. He would have gotten a slipstream if he started behind Verstappen which would have helped him attack the Dutch driver even harder.
🎙️| “Will you attack Verstappen into turn 1?”
Carlos Sainz: “I wouldn’t have minded if Lewis or Lando had outqualified me because here the clean side is a bit better for the start.”
“But it’s also all about the tow and how lucky you get if you can get a tow down to Turn 1.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) June 3, 2023
However, the reality is, even if Sainz attacks Verstappen into turn 1 and takes the lead of the race, holding on to it will be difficult. The RB19 has been unstoppable in terms of pace so far this season. If Verstappen can start a race from P9 to win it (2023 Miami GP), it’s very likely that he can re-overtake Sainz if he loses a place.
Sainz confused about Charles Leclerc’s qualifying horror
Sainz was very happy with his P2 after qualifying on Saturday. In front of his home fans, he will start the race from the front-row and has a golden opportunity to finish on the podium. He said, “It was very good today, I felt like I was driving very well”
Leclerc meanwhile, endured a complete horror show on Saturday. The Monegasque ended up finishing 19th and missed out on Q2 for the first time since 2019. Sainz explained that he has no clue about what happened to Leclerc. However, he did claim that the Ferrari has a very narrow window in which it operates optimally.
Ferrari is investigating the car of Charles Leclerc.
ℹ️ | @GiulyDuchessa pic.twitter.com/FAEGo3kobg
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) June 3, 2023
He said, “I don’t know exactly what happened to Charles, but it seems to be the same story all year. The car has a very narrow window, and depending on the conditions, you struggle with different balances“.
Even though both Sainz and Leclerc start on different ends of the grid, the former hopes that his teammate can make up places, and leave the Spanish GP with a big points haul.
