Carlos Sainz feels late set-up change to blame for qualifying outcome in Suzuka | 2023 Japanese GP. Carlos Sainz feels late set-up change to blame for qualifying outcome in Suzuka.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz is of the opinion that a last-minute adjustment to his car’s setup had a negative impact on his qualifying performance in the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit on Saturday.

While the Ferrari driver secured pole position in the last two races, he ended up qualifying in sixth place at Suzuka. His Q3 lap time was nearly a second slower than Max Verstappen, who not surprisingly claimed pole position.

Despite finishing second and fourth in Friday’s practice sessions, Carlos Sainz experimented with a different setup on Saturday, which had implications for his performance. This change in preparation occurred on a track where he had anticipated the Maranello team would face challenges.

“We knew before coming here that this track would expose us a bit more with the high-speed characteristics. It was never going to be easy. I took the approach yesterday and this morning to try different things on the car. By quali I saw it was not quite working, and we had to go back to a more basic set-up which in the end probably ended up compromising my quali preparation and my weekend in general.” – the Ferrari man pointed out at the end of the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Spaniard had to settle for sixth place on the grid, with a lap time that was about 0.3s  three tenths slower than his Maranello team mate Charles Leclerc who will begin Sunday’s race from fourth place, and the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix feels the different set-ups could be the reason for the outcome.

“Charles must have done a very good job but also I didn’t get a clean sector one in my last lap, which probably accentuated a bit the difference. But, I’d say he’s been a tenth or two quicker all weekend and probably me being a bit distracted trying so many set-ups and never really getting into a rhythm didn’t help.” – the Spanish driver added.

The Maranello team will now attempt to challenge the McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for a place on the podium, while also hoping to keep the Red Bull of Sergio Perez behind them in the Japanese Grand Prix.