Sainz starts behind Perez and Verstappen: "Yeah, it’s a pity"

That Sainz was unable to improve his first time in the all-important qualifying session had to do with a mistake in his final run. The Spaniard had to break his lap and saw all his direct competitors diving under his own time.

"Yeah, it’s a pity but, at the same time, I think we’ve done some progress throughout the day. I was feeling in contention for pole that, after the last couple of races, especially prior to Monaco, I wasn’t," said Sainz, who is trying to see the positive in it. "So [it’s] good progress then and it’s what happens when you push to the limit.”

The Madrid native acknowledges that he pushed to the limit, but at the same time he knows better than anyone that the points at the Baku street circuit will not be distributed until Sunday. The race in Azerbaijan is always a guarantee for spectacle with often several safety cars. "Clearly, I did overstep it in Q3, but everything is still to play for tomorrow. Starting position here doesn’t matter that much, so we’re gonna push," Sainz concludes on Sky Sports.