Sainz hopeful: "We are in a good position to fight Max tomorrow."

Carlos Sainz will start from third on the grid tomorrow for the Japanese Grand Prix, but that doesn't show how close qualifying was. The Spaniard finished only 0.057 seconds down on Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc splitting the two. He is still hopeful of a strong race tomorrow in Suzuka, however.

"There are plenty of things that could happen [tomorrow]," Sainz explained after qualifying, "we have a great opportunity by starting P3, we managed to save a set of softs in case we need it so we're in a good position to fight Max tomorrow."

Pole just out of reach for Ferrari

Both Leclerc and Sainz were in reaching distance of pole position and despite clean laps, the Spaniard knows where it went wrong, he stated: "It was a very clean lap, a very good lap until the last corner. I picked up a bit of wheel spin and used up too much from my rear tyres.

"It's shame to be half a tenth from pole, [there's been] so many qualifyings with Max and Charles now that we're half a tenth off. Hopefully, we see this half a tenth towards my side."

Rain expected tomorrow once again

He finished off by explaining how rain is expected and how this could affect a portion of the race majorly, "I think the weather will play a part. The rain will arrive, we don't know when."