Carlos Sainz said he tried to recover at the end of the lap after losing time in the second sector, but made a mistake and ended up losing second place to Fernando Alonso. Still, the Ferrari driver remained confident for Sunday's race
Carlos Sainz secured third place on the starting grid for the Canadian GP on Saturday (18), in a qualifying session that featured some incidents due to the slippery track at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - which had already held a TL3 under rain this morning. The Spaniard assessed the circuit conditions and said he had some difficulty with the intermediate tires, which were used when the track started to dry out.
"Yes, that was the goal," Sainz said. "I was feeling very good with the car, especially with the extreme rain tires. As the track was drying out, I felt that the other [intermediates] gave a bit of oversteer [loss of grip on the rear wheels], I was losing a few tenths," said the Spanish driver.
In the last fast lap attempt he managed to do, Sainz explained that he tried to recover everything in the last sector after making a small mistake in the second one, and over-gearing in the last corner ended up costing him the second position - which went to Fernando Alonso.
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"On that [last] lap, I was purple [with the best time of the session] in the first sector, then in the second sector I knew I had lost a bit of time compared to Max [Verstappen]," he assessed. "So I tried to give everything in the last corner, but it didn't work out for me. Yeah, I just tried to go for it, tried to go for pole. In the end I ended up with third place because of that mistake," he regretted.
Nevertheless, the Ferrari driver still has good expectations for tomorrow's race. Sainz considers himself in a good position with the third place, but drew attention to the high level demonstrated by Fernando Alonso in Canada - he had already led TL3 this morning, before ensuring his presence on the front row of the grid.
"I think we are in a good position for tomorrow," observed the Ferrari driver. "I think it's going to be a good fight with Max at the front, we'll see what we do about Fernando [Alonso], because he's been very fast all weekend. So we'll see what happens," he added.
Finally, Sainz thanked the many Ferrari fans who were present at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to support the team's drivers. With Charles Leclerc punished and already aware that he would start from the back of the grid, the Spaniard became the only possibility of pole for the Italian team. It didn't happen, but Carlos was widely celebrated after leaving the car and made a point of praising the fans.
"It's always like this, everywhere we go," he praised. "Every time we go somewhere, there is an incredible number of tifosi [as Ferrari fans are known]. But here in Canada, for some reason, it seems to have an 'extra', a larger number of people who come to see us. I will try to have a good race tomorrow, and we will go for this victory," he finished.