Sainz:
It was a mix of factors. I had to let some cars pass in the third sector, which cooled the tires a lot, and I had to drive on the dirty side to let them through. Since it was a Q3 lap, I wanted a good exit from the last corner, but I was already slow compared to Q1 and Q2. I tried to accelerate earlier to make up for lost time, otherwise I’d have lost a tenth on the first straight before even starting the lap.
This weekend has been tough. It’s strange how things can change from one year to the next, but as we’ve seen, getting the tires into the right window with our car is tricky. I managed a few good laps, but overall, it’s been inconsistent. Brake issues yesterday didn’t help with preparation. It’s about building confidence and doing perfect laps from FP1 to Q3, and I struggled with that. I couldn’t find rhythm yesterday, and today it was hard to get the tires and brakes working together.
I hope tomorrow’s race will be normal, like Baku, and then we can show good pace. Once we find the rhythm, everything should go smoothly. It takes more than one lap to get everything working with the tires, and the mistake I made was unusual. There's a fine line between making them stick and not. That’s what happened this weekend, but once I find my rhythm, we’ll be competitive.
I don’t usually read too much into Fridays because we don’t know what the others are doing. In FP3, Norris gained a second compared to FP2, which suggests they were hiding something. In Q3, they were only a tenth faster than FP3, which is strange. Something odd is going on, likely with tire preparation, because it's unusual for the gap between FP3 and Q3 to be so small.
I misjudged the lack of grip with cold tires at Turn 17, where there’s a bump that often catches you out. I made a mistake, and I apologize to the team. It’s been a tough weekend. The car will go to the mechanics for analysis to see if anything needs changing and if we’ll face a penalty. It was an unexpected accident, one I’ve never experienced before in my career. It’s unfortunate, but it’s racing, and tomorrow we’ll try to bounce back.
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Vanja #66 wrote: ↑21 Sep 2024, 18:49
I was wrong in my comments before, doesn't sound like Leclerc could do anything. Can't remember reading such heated comments from him recently
Leclerc mentioned the fact the team had no response for him in multiple interviews, I have a feeling this really pissed him off. Maybe he feels like the team isn't taking accountability.