Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz commented on what happened during the afternoon sprint race, with qualifying starting in just over an hour.
The Qatar Sprint race is already behind us, as in just over an hour the cars will take to the track for the qualifying session ahead of tomorrow’s race. Ferrari secured fourth and fifth place in the Saturday race, with Sainz ahead of Leclerc, making qualifying crucial to keep the Constructors’ Championship race alive.
Below are the comments from the two drivers, starting with Leclerc‘s words ‘Old engine? I don’t think it’s having an impact, but to be honest, I’m not completely sure. The positive aspect today was definitely the race pace, which was very good. On the other hand, the downside is yesterday’s qualifying: we couldn’t get the soft tires to work the way we wanted, although we’ve probably figured out where we’re struggling. I hope we now know which direction to work in, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to completely solve our problems.
If we can fix something, we’ll be in a good position for tomorrow; if not, it will be really difficult to overtake. I had a chance with Lewis today, but it was really on the limit, and I had a lot of trouble getting close to him on the straights. For this reason, the starting position will be crucial.’
Now, here’s Sainz’s comment: ‘It was a really complicated start. We had already noticed our difficulties in the medium tire warm-up yesterday, and today it was no different. I pushed hard during the reconnaissance lap to try to generate as much energy as possible in the tires, but starting from the dirty side was far from easy: there was a lot of sand on the tires, and the grip was practically nonexistent. Even Russell, in front of me, almost lost control of his car. I would say that all of us starting on the inside struggled in the first six or seven corners.
Once the tires were up to temperature, I managed to stay in George’s DRS, but both he and the McLarens were faster. I, on the other hand, was already at the limit and had no margin to attempt an overtake. The main issue is that I can’t pinpoint a specific weakness in the car’s balance, because what we lacked yesterday was finding the right method to bring the soft tires into the ideal window. There’s still a tenth or two we can gain if we manage to fine-tune everything.’
Photo: X Scuderia Ferrari