“We’re further behind than we expected” - Carlos Sainz disappointed with Saturday’s qualifying session in Jeddah

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has said that he's not entirely satisfied with his performance in the qualifying session in the Saudi Arabian GP on Saturday (March 18).

The Spaniard qualified P5 at the end of Q3 but will jump up a place, as his teammate Charles Leclerc will serve a ten-place grid penalty on race day. Despite starting the race in the second row alongside Mercedes' George Russell, Sainz said that he was further behind than he had expected after qualifying.

As per Formula Passion, he said:

“It wasn’t the weekend we wanted in terms of progress. We’re further behind than we expected. Charles got the most out of the car, while I have to analyse the first sector. I expect to be more competitive in the race and fight Aston Martin and Mercedes."

He continued:

"I was struggling a lot, mainly sector one. I had a bit of a strange feeling with the tyres, with the car, I just couldn’t put that sector one where I wanted. It meant I lost a lot of confidence in Q2 having to use another set of tyres and leaving myself exposed for Q3, which wasn’t ideal. Clearly, I didn’t have my best day, but tomorrow’s race day, and tomorrow are where points count."

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"I was expecting myself to be in the fight" - Carlos Sainz after qualifying

Carlos Sainz said that he had high hopes for himself and expected himself to be in the fight for pole position like his teammate. Speaking to F1.com, he said:

"I was expecting myself to be in the fight, and for one reason or another that I still need to analyse, I wasn’t. So, a disappointing day, but still, tomorrow is the day. Not the best of qualifyings from my side, to be honest."

He continued:

"I struggled with the tyres into the first few corners and lost the time there. The rest of the lap felt good, but it wasn’t enough to make up for sector 1. My bad. However, the weekend is not over, and we have the pace to fight for a step on the podium, so we’ll reset tonight and come back at it tomorrow in the race."

It will be fascinating to see if Carlos Sainz and Ferrari can challenge the likes of Aston Martin and Red Bull during the race. Sainz will have an opportunity to notch up his first podium of the season on Sunday.