Carlos Sainz talks about the "bittersweet" nature of his latest pole position for Ferrari

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said his pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix was "bittersweet," given his impending departure from the Italian team at the end of the 2024 season. The Spanish driver was in a different class compared to the field during qualifying on Saturday as he claimed P1 for Sunday's race. Sainz topped the session after putting 0.225s between himself and Max Verstappen in P2.

The 30-year-old has been the stronger of the two Ferrari drivers in the two most recent qualifying sessions. For the second weekend in a row, he finished ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, who could only manage P4 in Mexico, as he did in Austin, Texas.

Speaking after the qualifying session, Sainz said he was happy after claiming the sixth pole position of his career and his first this year but also reflected on the fact that he was leaving Ferrari for Williams next year so won't get too many of the same chances in 2025. He said (via ESPN),

"Very sweet, given how good the car is, and how well I've been driven recently, it is very optimistic going into the last five races. At the same time, bittersweet, because it gives me the feeling that Ferrari might be in the fight for the world championship next year and I won't be there to use it.

"I feel like I have been quite a big part of this team during the four years trying to prepare the team to fight for that championship next year, you know? The fact that I'm driving well, being fast with the car, and I'm leaving in five races, leaves me a bit... I don't know how to say it, but not with a very good feeling. But it is what it is."

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Carlos Sainz assesses his chances of winning the 2024 Mexican GP

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said that he was "relatively confident" of converting his pole position into a race win on Sunday.

When asked about his chances of winning, the Spaniard said (via ESPN):

"Relatively confident because I know my race pace should be good tomorrow. Probably the biggest difficult thing will be the run down into Turn 1 and starting pole with the slipstream. I think you can still defend, you can still make it stick into Turn 1, starting pole, and that will be my goal tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz will be looking to become only the fourth driver to win the Mexican Grand Prix from the pole position and the first since Max Verstappen in 2022. The Spanish driver would also want to close to gap to Oscar Piastri in the driver's championship in their battle for P4, with the Aussie currently ahead of him by 32 points.