Ferrari's driver admitted that he imagined he had done enough to secure a place of honor on Sunday's grid. Still, no regrets: Spaniard said he was confident about Ferrari's chances in the race
When Carlos Sainz clocked 1min17s421 in Q3 of the Hungarian F1 qualifying session on Saturday, everyone - even the Ferrari driver himself - expected that this would be enough to secure pole position. What virtually nobody counted on was that George Russell would manage to fly around the Hungaroring track and take the pole position for Sunday's race - for the first time in his career.
After Formula 1 qualifying for the Hungarian GP, Sainz congratulated his Mercedes rival and admitted that there was, yes, a feeling that the last time recorded in practice would be worthy of pole-position. On the contrary, the Ferrari's Spaniard said he feels more and more comfortable in the F1-75, and pinned his hopes on the Italian team's pace in Mogyoród.
"I'm definitely feeling better every race, every qualifying session. Today I felt I had the pace to get the pole-position. It got away from us there in the last sector. Congratulations to George (Russell), because he must have done a very good lap with Mercedes," Sainz acknowledged.
"We have the pace - obviously tire management is going to be a key factor, as always. Mercedes' speed is a bit of an unknown. We will have to see how the race unfolds tomorrow. If we can catch them right at the start, all the better. It will be exciting," concluded the Spaniard.
Grand Prix follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the Formula 1 HungarianGrand Prix weekend. On Sunday, the race is scheduled to start at 10:00 am [GMT-3].