Among the drivers who will start today’s United States Grand Prix from the top nine positions, only Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz will use the soft tires. Before the start of the qualifying session on Saturday, in the Ferrari garage they had more plans in view of the three sessions, and the main one involved the passage to Q2 using only one set of soft, as confirmed immediately by Carlos Sainz.
Charles Leclerc had to use two sets of ‘red’ tires due to a not particularly fast first ‘run’.
At the start of Q2 the Monegasque found himself in a disadvantaged position compared to his teammate and, in fact, Charles Leclerc had to immediately use the only set of medium tires available, while Carlos Sainz was able to plan a first ‘run’ with soft tires for then to move on to the yellow set, also having only one set of mediums available: “We were confident that the track would improve and that I could beat the time I had achieved with the Softs,” Carlos confirmed.
With the medium set, Charles Leclerc took advantage of a good moment on the track, immediately obtaining the time of 1’33 “928, which was two tenths better than the one that had allowed him to finish Q1 in the lead, while Carlos Sainz with the soft stopped the clock on a time of 1’34 ”126.
The feedback with the ‘yellow’ tyre has taken many teams by surprise: at that moment it seemed good news for Carlos Sainz, who prepared for the second ‘run’ by using the medium set. Then the cold shower: Carlos did not go beyond the time of 1’34 “388, thus confirming the previous time (obtained with the soft) as that of the passage to Q3.
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But what happened?
“In the second part of Q2 the wind picked up a lot – explained Carlos – the track was slower and we all struggled to go faster”.
“Having set my best lap in this phase with the medium compound was a nice advantage in view of the race”, reiterated Charles Leclerc, while Carlos Sainz did not take it well: “There is something to analyze, because I was the only one to go out on the track with the soft (at the beginning of Q2) then the conditions worsened and I was not able to pass with the mediums, which was our goal ”.
In this case, Ferrari does not have any blame. The pit wall put Carlos Sainz in a position to use the only set of available mediums in the second ‘run’, following the normal procedures, and no one could predict that the wind would become such a significant variable.
The price that Carlos Sainz will pay today in the race is that of having to anticipate his first stop, with the risk of finding himself in a greater traffic than those who will have the possibility of delaying the pit stop as much as possible.
“I will not be able to lengthen the first stint that much – reiterated Carlos Sainz – and it will be penalizing in a race like the one that awaits us, it means starting on the wrong foot”.
A correct analysis, that of Carlos, but there are two aspects to keep in mind. The first is that the race will be on two stops, so he will not have the aggravating circumstance of having to pit more than his opponents. In the early stages of the race he will then be able to count on a tire that, at least in the three initial laps, should guarantee him good grip.
In any case, it will be a race in which the compound factor will be destined to be a major factor, due to the degradation that the teams expect especially on the rear tyres.
A scenario confirmed by Laurent Mekies: “We can expect the race to be very tough on the drivers and the cars with very high temperatures expected, which will have an effect on tyre management, as the track surface is in any case very abrasive. Choosing the right strategy and executing it properly will be key.”
“Now is the time to focus on how to make my strategy work better tomorrow – Carlos Sainz added – we have a good pace, as well as positive feelings from the car. We know we will have to be aggressive, let’s wait and see how the race evolves ”.
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