Sainz: 'Will fight Mercedes and Perez'

Carlos Sainz was suddenly in second place at the end of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix. The Spaniard shares the first starting row with former teammate Lando Norris on P1. Sainz hopes to take over the lead from his former teammate soon.

"Yes, it was very tricky. To be honest, it was tricky from the begining. But from Q2 we could already see that the slicks could come into play. We had a very good strategy by coming in two laps before the end to get some temperature in the tyres. Unfortunately, I was one of the first to cross the line," Sainz said after qualifying.

"This weekend we seem to be a bit stronger. We expect the two Mercedes and Perez's Red Bull to be a bit quicker. We will try to put on a fight," the Ferrari driver continued.

"I will try to overtake Lando straight away, or else I hope to get a good 'tow'," concluded Sainz.