F1 | Sainz third but happy: “I have the pace to fight tomorrow”

Pole position and third place. Ferrari had arrived in Baku with a good dose of confidence, fueling the ambition of being among the protagonists of the weekend. For now, the Reds have not actually been among the leading teams, but rather the reference team, thanks also to a Charles Leclerc who, as in the past, shines among the walls of the Azerbaijani capital.

However, Carlos Sainz also showed good form, thanks to a third position about a tenth from Oscar Piastri that will allow him to start from the second row. While between the two attempts of Q3 other drivers managed to find a few tenths of improvement, the Spaniard was able to lower his best time by only ten thousandths, losing a lot in the exit area of ​​the castle.

In fact, up until that point, Sainz was in full battle for pole, having tackled the sequence of 90° bends between the end of the first and the beginning of the second sector in an excellent manner. However, right at the exit of that section, perhaps also thanks to a more effective management of the rear end throughout the lap, his teammate managed to find the margin that allowed him to make the difference in the central split time. A gap that then extended again on the starting straight, where Leclerc enjoyed a few km/h advantage, also thanks to the slipstream provided by his teammate who was just a few seconds ahead of the Monegasque.

Sainz made no secret of the fact that he has often struggled on this track throughout his career, which is why he was ultimately satisfied with third place on the starting grid: “Overall, we had a solid, quality day with both cars,” said the Spaniard at the end of qualifying.

“I think we’ve put ourselves in a very good position for tomorrow. I’ve never been very fast on this track in my career. It’s a track where I tend to struggle a bit, so being in third is a positive for tomorrow. Also, my race pace yesterday seemed very good, so we can have something big to play for tomorrow.”

A crucial aspect was the evolution of the track, especially in the first heats, so much so that several drivers were surprised and even the top drivers were forced to complete additional laps at the end of Q1 to avoid exclusion: those who were unable to complete that decisive passage, like Lando Norris, in fact found elimination.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“Yes, for sure the track was changing a lot, and we were finding more and more grip as the track cooled down and the sun went down. So it was about adapting. In Q3 I found something that gave me a bit more confidence. It was probably not the best of the laps to do that lap in Q3, but at least I found something that allowed me to get into the top three, which is a good position for tomorrow,” Sainz added, underlining how the episode with Albon, who had a cooling system stuck on his car as he exited the pit lane, had somehow created problems for the drivers, because they had to slow down while waiting for the situation to resolve.

Second Sainz, the front row was possible, but the Ferrari driver himself admitted that he was unable to find the best feeling with this track: “If I had been a little faster, yes, but it’s Baku and I’ve never been able to be incisive and give the best version of myself”.