Fifth place and much regret. Carlos Sainz’s Saturday on the streets of the Principality didn’t quite go as expected, especially considering the confidence and potential he had expressed yesterday in the first two free practice sessions.
In fact, despite the accident, the Spaniard felt that he had fully recovered his confidence in the car, but something was missing at the climax in qualifying. The first run of Q3, finished in second position, in fact seemed to presage that the Ferrari driver could fight for a good result, at least slotting into the first two rows, but a far from perfect last lap then relegated him to fifth place.
“Of course I’m disappointed, because the form and performance have been there all weekend. After yesterday’s small mistake, I quickly recovered my confidence (in the car) and I was ready to give everything in qualifying,” Sainz commented at the end of qualifying.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The Spaniard wanted to underline the negative impact of the traffic in his last attempt, where in fact he found himself faced with several cars proceeding slowly, but which in practice always moved away from the ideal line in good time, without disturbing the number 55 of the Red, if not visually. Furthermore, a small mistake at the hairpin further damaged his performance.
“The first run of Q3 was very good, the second run of Q3 unfortunately I found Verstappen at 3 and 4, it made me lose quite a load. Also Tsunoda at 7 and 8, Lando (Norris) in the last sector, maybe there’s something to look at there because we found a lot of cars in my fast lap. After a great first run at the start of Q3, I think there was more to the car.”
Despite the disappointment for a Saturday which, from his point of view, could have given something more on the grid, Sainz is convinced that tomorrow there is the possibility of fighting again for the podium, above all if he could express his pace in open air, perhaps with a good strategy.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
“Yes, I think so,” said the Prancing Horse driver when asked if a podium finish was still possible despite his starting position.
“We know that if we have free air tomorrow we can move forward. I think we are in a good position for tomorrow, in terms of pace, not position and we know how important position is in Monaco.”
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