Second place in qualifying for Carlos Sainz, who finished behind Mercedes’ George Russell.
A confident Carlos Sainz addressed the international press after securing second place in the Las Vegas qualifying session. The Ferrari driver was 98 thousandths of a second behind George Russell, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth.
The future Williams driver, interviewed after qualifying, expressed confidence for the race. He said: “It was a very tough, very competitive qualifying. We were closer than we expected. To be honest, I thought I had secured pole position, but then George came through at the end. I’m really happy; we’re starting from a good position tomorrow. Last year, I qualified second but then had to start from the back due to the infamous curb. Now I’m starting from second place, and I hope to do better.
We need to keep the confidence because tomorrow we can fight for the top positions, even more than today. If we were so close in qualifying, we definitely have the chance to win: that will be the goal. Of course, tomorrow the strategy will be different. I think Mercedes was better today at warming up the tires; in the first sector, they were flying and gaining three-tenths on us, and then we’d catch up throughout the lap. Tomorrow we start from zero, and we’ll see how the car performs with a full fuel load.”
Finally, speaking about the battle with McLaren, Sainz said: “We need to win, it’s not enough to just stay ahead because they have a big advantage in the championship. Then we’ll go to Qatar, which won’t be a favorable track for us, so we’ll struggle. Winning is crucial.”
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari