What happened at the decisive moment in Formula 1 qualifying and why Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari was eliminated after the first segment
In the battle for second place in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship, Ferrari suffered a setback in qualifying for the final race in Abu Dhabi. Carlos Sainz retired in the SF-23 in the first segment and only finished 16th, 0.138 seconds off the pace in the end
But why did Sainz fail to clear the first hurdle when team-mate Charles Leclerc took P2 on the grid? In his case, it was Ferrari’s “own fault”, says Sainz: “After a problem with the front wing, we went out very late on the last attempt and were therefore the last car on the track.”
Or rather: the last car in the pit lane, because the field was already building up there and Sainz was unable to complete his warm-up lap as desired. He was already “under pressure” in this situation, explains Sainz, because it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to start his lap on time.
Sainz asked his race engineer several times whether it would be enough, and Ricciardo reassured Adami several times: “You have a 20-second buffer. Should be enough.” And it was enough. But the real problems were yet to come
Sainz blames his failure on “a lot of traffic “
Because Sainz had barely finished his flying lap when he reported on the radio that there was “so much traffic” during his attempt. Adami radioed “P16” into the cockpit. In response, Sainz simply said: “Yes, I’m not surprised. Shit!” And: “So much traffic. I think the Merc[edes] did that on purpose.”
Sainz was alluding to a scene at Turn 5, which Mercedes driver George Russell had driven through immediately in front of him, but without directly impeding Sainz – he drove through the passage an estimated three seconds ahead of the Ferrari.
Sainz, however, felt held up and said: “If you drive through the corner one or two seconds ahead of another car, then the driver behind loses one or two tenths in this corner. And when it gets tight in Q1 or Q2, some drivers deliberately create dirty air in some corners so that other drivers might lose some time.”
Under the current Formula 1 regulations, this is permitted. “It’s not considered holding up because you don’t have to take your foot off the gas. But it’s clear that you get turbulent air and a worse corner,” says Sainz. “And because I was so late, I was so close to other cars in the first and second sectors. That cost me tenth after tenth. “
The direct comparison disproves Sainz’ theory
In fact, according to F1 Tempo’s data analysis, Sainz made up time in a direct comparison with his teammate Leclerc in the very places where he was allegedly held up – in turn 5 by Russell in the Mercedes and at the exit of turn 3 by Pierre Gasly in the Alpine. And with Russell, he even briefly benefited from a slipstream at the exit of turn 5 for more top speed on the straight
However, Sainz stands by his assessment that the two rival cars “probably cost him a place in Q2”. However, he does not specifically blame Russell and Gasly: “I think everyone does it. But when you fall behind on the track like that, you suffer all the more. “
Practice crash had no consequences for qualifying
In any case, his practice crash on Friday had no impact on his performance in qualifying. “I didn’t lose any confidence or anything because of it. That spot isn’t even a corner for us in qualifying. I didn’t have to worry about that. All we had to do was perform perfectly in Q1, but that didn’t work out,” says Sainz. “Our pace is simply nothing special this weekend.”
However, Sainz does not want to put this down to too little driving time on Friday: “Nobody got much driving time yesterday. It was difficult to set good lap times on soft. We didn’t manage that. We haven’t been that strong so far this weekend and have now had a scrappy Q1. “
Sainz still wants to score “good points” in the race
However, he has certain hopes for the Grand Prix, despite grid position 16, “because the long runs didn’t look too bad.”
“We now have to think about how we can still score good points for the team on Sunday. That is our focus. And then we have to see where Mercedes finishes,” says Sainz. “We need to have a really strong Sunday.”
Ferrari still has to make up four points on Mercedes in the Formula 1 season finale to secure second place in the world championship. Leclerc in P2 on the grid is well positioned, but has Russell in P4 almost directly behind him. Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes comes from P11 and is therefore also ahead of Sainz in P16.
