All of Ferrari’s hopes in qualifying in Canada, following Leclerc’s penalty for changing an engine, were pinned on Carlos Sainz .
The Spaniard went into Q2 as third, and was fourth in that second round. After the first attempt of Q3 he was second, and on the final lap he set the first sector record, risking pole position with Max Verstappen.
However, a bad third sector left him without options and even made Fernando Alonso sneak in front of him, second.
The man from Madrid was happy with the sensations of the Ferrari , but regretted having taken too many risks in the last corner.
“That’s the goal,” Carlos Sainz commented when asked if he could fight on Sunday. “I mean I was feeling pretty good with the car today, especially in the wet as it was drying. I felt like the others took a little step forward and I was missing like a couple of tenths.”
“On that lap I was coming in, I think purple in the first sector, and then having lost a little bit to Max in the second… and in the last corner I just tried to do a very fast last lap, which didn’t work, And it took me half a second.
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Despite starting behind an Alpine, Sainz will start just behind Verstappen, on the same side, and defends that it is a good place from which to seek his first victory in Formula 1.
“I tried to go for pole, and in the end I finished third because of that mistake. But other than that, I think we’re in a good position for tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a good fight with Max, who’s up front, and we’ll see.” what can we do with Fernando because he has been very fast all weekend. So yeah, let’s see how it goes.”
On Sunday Sainz will have to play for his own interests and also for those of his teammate Charles Leclerc, who from penultimate position will have to come back and hope that Verstappen, his closest rival for the title, does not add as many points.
Asked if the huge number of Ferrari fans in the stands added more pressure to his race, Sainz said: “Wherever we go, there’s always an unbelievable amount of tifosi in the stands. But here in Canada, for some reason, there is an extra number of Ferrari fans who come to see us. Yes, I will try to have a good race tomorrow. Let’s see if we can fight for that victory”, he concluded.
Then, before the DAZN F1 microphones, he explained the end of the session: “I knew that I had done a good first sector, and that in the second I was losing the lap a bit. And I was fighting for that pole and at the end in the last corner I tried to let’s say win what I had lost in sector 2 and that probably cost me second position and came out closer to Max”.
“We lacked a bit with the intermediate tyres. With the extreme rain we were going very fast, but with the intermediate we still have a little more to go. But the race is tomorrow and we will try to go for it.”
About the race, which is expected to be dry, he declared: “It is expected to be dry, on a circuit where it will finish raining. There will be little rubber, it will be dirty… tomorrow is going to be a race in which I think things can happen, There may be degradation, so yes. The important thing will be to get out well, try to get closer to Max as soon as possible and try to put pressure on him.”
