Scuderia Ferrari Spanish Carlos Sainz will start tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix from the last place as a result of a complete engine change which could only be done by receiving a penalty yet Carlos and his Maranello team still hailed a job well done in qualifying at Istanbul Park.
Carlos Sainz made the most of his Q1 run and prevented McLaren rival Daniel Ricciardo from going further than the first stage. Later, the Spanish driver returned to the track with the sole purpose of helping his team mate Charles Leclerc reach the final part phase of qualifying with a useful aerodynamic ‘tow’ on his final run.
“Carlos showed great team spirit,” said Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies.
Charles Leclerc ended up fourth fastest but will start third as a result of Mercedes’ championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who took pole position on track, but will start from P11 due to a 10-place penalty for exceeding his season’s engine allocation.
“I did the best I could to help him (Leclerc),” Carlos Sainz told reporters. “We also managed to bump out Ricciardo… our direct competition, so it was a perfectly executed quali,” the Spaniard added at the end of the qualifying session.
McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari are locked in a tight fight for third place in the Formula One constructors’ championship, with McLaren 17.5 points ahead of the Maranello team, ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix, the first of the remaining seven events this season.
Daniel Ricciardo won last month’s Italian Grand Prix with team mate Lando Norris second. Ricciardo and Norris will start 15th and seventh respectively on Sunday.
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