Sainz underlines problem with tyres in qualifying: ‘It was impossible’

Carlos Sainz was not satisfied with his qualifying result in Qatar. Ferrari’s Spanish driver only finished in P12 in Q2, getting him knocked out early on Friday after claiming two pole positions at Monza and in Singapore. Sainz explained the cause of his early exit in the desert.

"Yes, it was a complicated qualifying from the beginning," Sainz told DAZN Spain after qualifying. "I have lacked rhythm, I have had a lot of problems with overheating the tyres while in FP1 we managed to make the tyre work in the optimal operative range. In qualifying, this was practically impossible, the car was nervous and had no grip," he explained what went wrong for him.

Regarding the race on Sunday, Sainz did not seem to be the most optimistic, but still has the Sprint Race to make up for his early exit on Friday. "We have to try to find out what we can do for Saturday and then see how we can come back in the race. It is a track where it is hard to overtake, but I will try to do my best."

Sainz can also get a grid penalty for the race, after he did not let Max Verstappen pass him in Q2. He is currently being investigated for "driving erratically".