Sainz, facing difficult start from pole in Mexico due to slipstream: “You have to go full throttle, the goal is to win”

Carlos Sainz could not hide his great satisfaction after achieving his 6th pole in F1 in it F1 Mexican GP. The Spanish driver, with a car with excellent racing speed and degradation, has a great weapon in his hands to go for what is his fourth victory in F1, the second of the season this. However, he made it clear that one of the main keys to the race was the first corner.

The main difficulty is in the beginning. With a distance of at least 820 meters from the start in the first corner, and therefore, those starting behind him have a good chance to catch his slipstream and try to pass him in the first turn. there, Carlos made it clear that he will fight with all his might to defend his first placebecause, despite his car’s good pace, he remembered that when you lose the lead, in Mexico it’s hard to follow the car in front because of the dirty air it emits and how hot the tires are.

For all this, the Spaniard focused on having a good start against Verstappen (2nd), a driver who always comes out very well and is one of the best and most aggressive in his early attacks, and also against Lando Norris (3rd), who could be his best ally because of the Englishman’s need to attack the Dutchman because of his fight with Max for the title.

“You have to go out at full throttle and I also depend on the others. I have to concentrate on making a good start. Obviously, if I start well I lose less than those who start close to me and I will defend Turn .1 as long as I can. But there are also many slipstreams. If they have a good top speed and a good engine, they can pass you even before turn 1, so I have to concentrate on myself, make a good start and then trust my instinct and the braking,” said Carlos in ‘DAZN’.

“In Austin I’ll tell you that you don’t have to worry because one way or another, you’ve made it through. But in Mexico it is more difficult to pass. I wouldn’t say it’s Monaco, but it’s not Austin either. It’s very difficult to follow the car in front, the car heats up (following another) and so do the tires and you can’t show your speed. So I still think that leaving the first corner in the first position gives you a lot,” he stressed in ‘ESPN‘.

So far, the Spaniard has highlighted the two grand laps he covered in Q3, in the decisive part of the classification, on a track where it is very easy to make mistakes due to the lack of grip at such altitude. Carlos considered that having a good time in his first turn was key to facing the final turn with less pressure, where he improved his time “taking more risks.” because he was able to put good time on the board.

“The objective this Sunday is to win. Of course, we maximized the day and We did the best we could in those two Q3 laps, which was almost perfect, especially because here in Mexico it’s very difficult to do a full lap well., the car always skids and you always feel like you have some lap time left, but the truth is that the two Q3 laps were really good and put me in a good position for the race,” commented Carlos.

“Obviously the goal is to win the race, it’s the best I can do both for the team and the constructors’ championship. “I have two drivers behind who also play a lot (Verstappen, 2nd, and Norris, 3rd, in the battle for the title) and there will definitely be action on the track tomorrow, but it will be fun and you have to enjoy it. .”he repeated.

HIS LAST TURN

“The second lap went really well thanks to the first lap I did in Q3. The first lap of Q3 went really well which allowed me to take more risks in that second lap and not give up on anything. More in all, in the piano of Turn 2 it is very easy to overshoot the track (as happened to Verstappen in his first attempt, something that invalidated his first lap. My first lap was already good for the pole and thought I took more risks there and in the fast corner and in the end it gave me an extra tenth to do the second lap, which was better .”

ONLY ONE TOUCHED THE WALL ON THE FINAL CURVE

“I try not to leave anything out there. I’m up against drivers who don’t leave anything out, least of all me. I’m happy because they are two very good laps and when you’re in the two laps you Two or three tenths ahead of rivals like Lando, Max and Charles in one lap, obviously the laps have to be very good, almost perfect I worked in the last break on that ‘quality’ because I felt that in Singapore and in the last races I didn’t maximize one thing, the potential I believed I had with the car, and it paid off.”