“Tyre management has been difficult, but we managed to put in a good lap when it counted and that puts us in a good position for tomorrow,” says Carlos.
After a discreet performance in free practice, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz made a splash by taking over the front row of the grid for the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of three-time champion Verstappen. At the end of the session, strangely, Sainz himself confessed his surprise at the result.
“It has been a very strange, very strange session. I haven’t done a good lap all weekend and the first one I did well was in the first session of Q3,” Carlos acknowledged when getting out of his Ferrari.
“I had a whiplash in turn number 8, where I almost lost the car, but it was a good lap. But when I saw the 1:17.2 on the screen, I said, but where is this coming from? This shows that there is something we have to understand and analyze. The car sometimes surprises us positively but other times it doesn’t, and it is something we will have to work on,” he explained.
If Leclerc took 8 tenths out of his hat in his best lap in Q3 compared to Q2, Sainz improved his record by 1.1 seconds. “I don’t understand where this improvement comes from and how we were half a second slower in the second stint, of course this car has these things and here it has been a positive surprise,” said the Madrid driver.
“Tyre management has been difficult, but we managed to put in a good lap when it counted and that puts us in a good position for tomorrow. Let’s see how we can keep those tires alive, to keep that Red Bull behind, because having two cars in front is a good advantage. So yes, we are going to give our best,” Carlos concluded.