Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has detailed how Max Verstappen inadvertently affected the Maranello staff’s efficiency throughout the dash qualifying session for the Qatar Grand Prix on the 5.419-kilometre Lusail Worldwide Circuit.
Following a robust exhibiting within the single observe session, each Carlos Sainz and his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc have been in the end overshadowed in dash qualifying. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc secured fourth and fifth positions on the grid, however they have been nearly three-tenths of a second behind pole place holder Lando Norris, leaving Ferrari to mirror on a missed alternative.
Charles Leclerc expressed that Ferrari’s promising observe occasions felt like a distant reminiscence, as each drivers struggled throughout SQ3. Carlos Sainz, specifically, confronted difficulties, together with having to desert his first flying lap. A key issue on this setback was Max Verstappen’s sluggish tempo in his Crimson Bull, which triggered a disruption within the visitors and prevented Carlos Sainz from finishing his lap to the perfect of his capability. Max Verstappen, who ultimately certified in sixth, was a contributing issue to the challenges confronted by Ferrari within the session.
“Sadly, we had a scenario the place I went into Sector 1 and Sector 2 with Max in entrance, and he was getting ready his tyres, so I had fairly a little bit of soiled air following him round. On prime of that, the automobile steadiness was simply off, we picked up a whole lot of understeer on the medium tyre, which meant we have been simply merely struggling to show the automobile, then I wanted to chill the tyres for a few laps. After I went once more, the understeer steadiness was nonetheless there, however I wanted to place a lap in, it was sufficient for P4. It was not straightforward underneath strain, however with the steadiness of understeering off monitor, it was fairly straightforward to get a monitor restrict, however we received it accomplished.” – Carlos Sainz defined on the finish of the Lusail Dash Qualifying session in Qatar.
Relating to the discrepancy between Ferrari’s sturdy observe efficiency and their underwhelming dash qualifying outcomes, Carlos Sainz suggested warning when decoding observe occasions. He emphasised that it’s usually deceptive to position an excessive amount of weight on observe tempo, significantly in an surroundings the place quite a few unpredictable components can affect the result. Carlos Sainz identified that the variables current throughout qualifying, corresponding to tire efficiency, monitor situations, and visitors, can dramatically have an effect on a staff’s capability to translate their observe type into aggressive qualifying outcomes. In consequence, he confused the significance of staying grounded and never drawing untimely conclusions based mostly on observe alone.
“I by no means try to learn an excessive amount of into FP1 since you by no means know what the gasoline masses and engines modes the others are operating. However the excellent news is that the automobile was feeling higher by way of steadiness than anticipated. However we went into quali nonetheless frightened that our rivals could possibly be faster right here, and that’s what we noticed. We didn’t maximise our package deal, and though our lap was clear, it was a lap with a whole lot of understeer within the automobile, I simply principally couldn’t flip the automobile for the entire lap.” -the Ferrari driver concluded.
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