Carlos Sainz, who set a time of 1’15”696, will start the 2024 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix from the fourth grid slot tomorrow, alongside Max Verstappen. The Spaniard says he is satisfied with both his practice sessions and qualifying fourth behind the two McLaren cars and the reigning world champion: all three were evidently faster this weekend at the Hungaroring circuit.
“I didn’t expect more, I tried to keep everyone calm because I knew that today we would probably see reality, and that’s what happened from FP2 with the cooling of the track, whereas during FP1 the track was really hot – it was 60°C – and I had a good lap. It seemed that with high temperatures we could be closer to the leaders, but as soon as the track cooled down, we had a gap of 3-4 tenths from Lando throughout the weekend and also in qualifying.” – the Ferrari driver pointed out.
The Spaniard emphasizes that the disadvantage to the other cars is the same percentage as in the last races, so even though the new updates worked well, there is still a long way to go.
Looking at the race, Carlos Sainz does not expect big surprises: “I think it will be a normal race. The top three are three or four tenths faster, 70 laps, you do the math and they are many seconds ahead. If something happens in front, if one or two cars go off the track or make mistakes, I hope to be the first to take advantage of it if I do all these things.” – the Ferrari driver added.
The bouncing issue, although less severe than in recent races, does not seem to be completely resolved.
“In Q3, in my last two laps, I started having the same problems, not as exaggerated as before, but there are also lower-speed corners compared to Silverstone. So, I think we will have to properly test it at Spa and at high speed to see what happens.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.
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