F1 | Ferrari, Carlos Sainz: “When I saw Yuki it was too late”

Carlos Sainz has most likely completed his adaptation process to his new car, the SF21, as demonstrated by the great result in Monaco which saw him achieve his first podium with Ferrari; However, there is always something missing in qualifying, especially in the decisive moment of Q3 and this time it was Yuki Tsunoda who was missing. Puns aside, the Spaniard was in fifth position when, at the end of qualifying, he was trying to improve. Arriving on the straight before turn fifteen, Baku's killer curve, the Spaniard first saw some smoke, initially hoping that the driver ahead of him on the track would block, but when he realized that Tsunoda was stopped against the barriers it was already too late : Sainz braked sharply to avoid it, ending up on the escape route barriers himself and damaging his SF21. Once again it is a red flag that decrees the pole position, once again attributed to the Maranello team, which will have to work tonight to repair car number fifty-five. Sainz will start from fifth position tomorrow, alongside Sergio Perez, who gains a position thanks to the penalty inflicted on Lando Norris. A great shame for Carlos, who still remains thirteen thousandths behind the time of Verstappen, third, and eleven thousandths behind that of Gasly, fourth.

"Today was another frustrating qualifying. I am very disappointed that I was not able to realize the full potential of the car, once again due to very unfavorable circumstances. I was improving my time on the last attempt in Q3 when the AlphaTauri in front of me crashed. I saw the smoke from the wheel lock but hoped he would be able to continue” explained Sainz, disappointed.

"When I saw that this wasn't the case, it was too late, and I ended up against the barriers too – continued the Spaniard – At that speed the damage could have been worse, but the car seems fine. Looking on the bright side, I'd say we had a good pace today, certainly better than we expected. I'm happy with Charles' pole, which is a great result for the team. Now all we have to do is prepare the race in the best way. I will give my all to make up ground tomorrow".