Sainz save the day: “Leclerc rarely happened to me”

Carlos Sainz He will start fifth in the first sprint of the season in 2024. The Spaniard is the second driver on the grid to score the most points in short races since the format was introduced and will be looking to continue his incredible streak. However, qualifying for the gridiron was not easy because of the rain and low temperatures and we had to save the tools.

The Ferraris had a lot of trouble getting the rubber up to temperature and proof of that was Leclerc’s spin as soon as he left the pits in Q3. Carlos managed to keep the car stable and finished satisfied although they could have done better in the dry.

“In the dry we were able to progress without any problems, preparing the car and everything to push hard in Q3. Then in Q3 it started to rain and cOn the intermediate tire we waited a long time to get out of the pitlane, it was cold and then you saw that Charles and I struggled on that outlap and that first lap to get the tire warm. I think he crashed, he spun around, The same thing has not happened to me in such a short time.”

“The wind is blowing hard. There are corners where the grip is not bad and there are corners that blow, and in these cars, with such sensitive aerodynamics, there are corners where you have no grip. If you add the wet asphalt and the intermediate tire, for example, in the last corner it is almost impossible to stay there on the inside. It’s very difficult. It must be said that it was a very difficult track to get here and almost straight to qualifying, and as I said “I think we saved the day.”

Looking forward to Sunday’s race, Carlos admitted that he wanted to make some changes to the car to finish feeling comfortable aboard the SF-24. However, you have to wait until the end of the sprint race, which is when the parc fermé period is interrupted, where the car cannot be touched.