(Motorsports news) In the battle for pole position, Sainz finished second fastest, just 0.044 seconds behind teammate Charles Leclerc, while Max Verstappen gave up on his last flying lap to finish third. But in order to surpass the allotted two control electronics packages for the season, Sainz needs to rally from 12th place on the grid. Reluctantly, the stewards assessed a 10-place grid penalty for this.
Sainz is left in a “very bad mood” by the reprimand. “A fantastic job by the entire team,” he stated. After a challenging Friday reassembling the entire car yesterday, we’ve dominated qualifying as a team. “I think that getting a front-row lock-out is amazing. Naturally, I would prefer to be on pole since it would allow me to start at position 11 rather than 12. However, I believe that today we accomplished the best we could.
“It’s clear that yesterday still disappointed you. I will not be dishonest. Even though I’m still really unhappy, I’m trying not to let it show too much. But things are as they are.” After just nine minutes of FP1, Sainz struck a loose water valve cover, resulting in significant damage, the cancellation of the session, and a two-hour and thirty-minute wait for FP2.
The stewards examined the rules in search of an escape clause, as the contestant was not at fault for the damage. But in the end, they decided: “If they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however, the regulations do not allow such action.” Sainz believed that he was now in “comeback mode” after being dropped.
“My race depends obviously on how the start goes, how the tyres are grained, and then how easy it is to overtake,” he went on. “I believe that the pace indicates that we will succeed this weekend. “Unfortunately, I’m going to be in a recovery mindset, competing in a comeback race, instead of going up against Charles and Max to win tomorrow. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to move up front eventually. However, I believe it will be difficult.”
