Formula 1 Mexican GP
Sainz surprised to qualify sixth in Mexico after F1 engine scare
Carlos Sainz says he was surprised to qualify sixth for Formula 1’s Mexican GP after suffering a power unit glitch early in the session.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 7, 2021, 3:54 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Following the red flag delay in Q1, Sainz was one of the first drivers to head out of his garage, and he spent 90 seconds waiting at the end of the pitlane prior to the resumption.
As soon as he left the pits he reported a lack of power, and as he crawled down the straight he was told to use revs in neutral in attempt to resolve the issue. He was almost at the first corner when he was finally able to get going. It was not the first time that the PU problem had cropped up.
“Yeah it was a tricky one,” he said. “We’d been struggling a bit with getting out of the garage this weekend, and when we are too long stationary, we’ve been having a bit of this issue.
“But I didn’t expect it to last so long. My tyres cooled down a lot in that process, and then to do a lap like this at the end of Q1 was very stressful.
“Also honestly Q2 was stressful, eventful, probably one of my most complicated qualy sessions. Never really got into a rhythm until a decent lap in Q3, but even on that lap, I felt I was two or three-tenths away from the potential of the car. So a bit surprised to see me P6.”
Asked to elaborate on the engine issue he said: “It’s happened a bit during the weekend, and it’s something we’re trying to sort out. It shouldn’t be a problem in the race.”
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Despite the power unit issue, Sainz is confident that he can have a strong Sunday, starting behind the front two rows locked out by Mercedes and Red Bull respectively.
“As I said, qualy was the worst session of the weekend, and we still managed to beat the McLaren [Daniel Ricciardo] and be two or three-tenths away from the AlphaTauri [Pierre Gasly], and they were playing with the tows.
“So I think if we get the feeling back with the car, and tomorrow I get into a good rhythm in the race, all of a sudden, the race pace can come back and we can do something with strategy.
“I think passing on track will be very, very difficult, because following a car, you cannot really push for more than a few laps due to temperatures. So it will be tricky.”
Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc will start from eighth after a disappointing final run in Q3.
"I've been really struggling in FP1, FP2, FP3,” said the Monegasque driver. “And that's why I was extremely happy with the performance in Q1 and Q2, because I finally managed to find the right feeling with the car.
“But then once it mattered in Q3 run two, I did a mistake, so for sure FP1, FP2, FP3, my lack of consistency hasn't helped, but it's no excuse."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Wolff yet to discuss F1 team orders with Mercedes drivers
Next article Mercedes F1 engine tweaks have cured high-altitude weakness
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
10 min
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
Josh Pierson earns IndyCar license approval following IMS road course evaluation test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 11 min
Josh Pierson earns IndyCar license approval following IMS road course evaluation test
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 36 min
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe