Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz had one of the most eventful qualifying sessions at Jeddah Corniche Circuit in the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which sadly ended with a poor result for the race on Sunday: Carlos will start the Jeddah event from P15, but will be hoping for a strong comeback to score some good points.
The Ferrari number 55 driver found himself on top of the timesheet at one stage in Q1, which ended with him berating Pierre Gasly over the Ferrari team radio for blocking him – the AlphaTauri driver was subsequently given an official warning after the qualifying sessions.
Unfortunately Q2 was when things really started to go wrong for Carlos Sainz, who had a spin in Turn 11 where, without even realizing it, he touched the wall and thus damaged his rear-wing, which would eventually prevent him from being able to complete another clean lap, forcing him to start the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from P15.
“A bit of a shame because I was coming from a very strong FP3, a very strong Q1, and suddenly this snap in the middle of Turn 11 cost me a whole qualifying. I tapped the wall with the rear end-plate, a touch I actually didn’t feel in the car, and then when I looked in the mirror the end-plate was completely bent and obviously the rear wing was not delivering the downforce it should. Something to analyse, something to look into what I could have done differently because it’s a snap of oversteer I was not expecting. This corner had been flat for me the whole qualy and for some reason on that lap I lost the rear. We’ll look at it and come back from it.” – the Spanish driver explained, at the end of the qualifying session in Jeddah.
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Despite the unfortunate incident in Q2, Carlos Sainz remains confident for the race on Sunday, following some strong recent performances that have solidified a promising first year alongside the Maranello team:
Even with the rear wing bent like it was, I was on a very strong lap until the rear wing properly gave up.So the confidence is still there – it’s been there all weekend and for the last four weekends actually. One small bump in the road, but I feel comfortable and I feel happy.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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