Carlos Sainz Jnr is convinced his team mate’s crash at the end of qualifying cost him the chance to fight for pole position and victory in the Monaco Grand Prix.
He said his “brain is not happy at all” after the red flag at the end of qualifying, which was caused by Charles Leclerc hitting the barriers ahead of him.Sainz qualified fourth at Monaco but believed he was on course for a much quicker lap before being forced to abandon it.
“On run one, I lost two or three tenths in the last sector compared to my best lap,” he explained. “So I knew a 10.2, 10.1, with track evolution was there to be had.” Leclerc’s pole position time was 1’10.346.
“I had a lot of traffic in run two at the beginning of the lap,” Sainz continued. “I had Perez into turn one that didn’t get out of the way and I already lost a tenth. But then I was coming very quick, I was recovering that lap time and I knew I had all that lap time to come in the last sector. But it was out of 13 that I saw the yellow flag and I had to abort.”
He started the session believing he could take pole position, based on his performances during practice. “I’ve been on it all the weekend, I’ve been having the pace to win to put it on pole. And I’m starting fourth, so it’s not even close to that.
“So I went into qualifying thinking that I had pole position and the win could be possible this weekend. And now I’m lining up fourth, which is very far away from where I think I could have been.”
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Sainz was consistently fast through first and second practice. “Look at my long run on Thursday, I had the best pace,” he said. “And I’m very competitive.
Despite the frustration, Sainz insisted he doesn’t bear a grudge against his team mate. “No, I cannot be angry with Charles. We are all here at the limit. We are all pushing these cars like you cannot imagine.
“We are brushing walls in pretty much every single corner, it’s the fastest cars in history and these things can happen.
“But the circumstances – I’m just very upset with life or the circumstances, right now, that haven’t given me the opportunity to, for the first time that I fight for pole in my life around Monaco, for Ferrari. I didn’t even get the chance to do a lap.”
He expects to be able to look back on the weekend more fondly later on. “I’m sure when I digest this weekend and I look back at it, my brain will be much more happy.
“I mean, my fifth race with the team, around Monaco, high confidence track and been pushing one of the fastest guys I’ve ever driven against, that is Charles. All weekend, I’ve been pushing him hard and I think that at a lot of points during the weekend, I’ve been quicker.
“So to have that feeling with the car, so early in the season, at such a difficult track is something to be proud of, it’s not like the other new drivers to teams are doing that well around here. So, I have to be happy. But my brain right now is not happy at all because at least top two for the team today was possible.”
Sainz’s radio messages after Leclerc’s crash
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| Adami | Double yellow, double yellow. |
| Sainz | I cannot believe it, I cannot believes it |
| Adami | Red flag, stay positive |
| Adami | And box. |
| Sainz | No, this is unfair. I’m sorry guys but this is unfair. |
| Adami | He had a big crash there. |
| Sainz | I hope he’s okay. Agh. Fucking Perez, also. |
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Balue (@balue)
22nd May 2021, 20:30
The reality is that Leclerc was faster in every Q session, and that’s after missing FP1 yet coming back to be right on the pace in FP2.
I’m getting the impression it’s not uncommon for Sainz to miss out in qualifying.
BasCB (@bascb)
22nd May 2021, 20:54
Sainz did look quicker though through most of Qualifying @balue.
Balue (@balue)
22nd May 2021, 21:02
@bascb He was slower in every session like I said.
Sainz is one who continually talks himself up, and together with this site and Sky F1 UK doing the same, I’ve always wondered what the effect of it all is but maybe I’ve just witnessed some of it. He just ‘looked’ good.
F1oSaurus (@)
23rd May 2021, 8:42
@balue So a bit like Verstappen who always see’s himself taking pole and yet did so only once in the 5 races this season?
Balue (@balue)
23rd May 2021, 12:24
@f1osaurus No it’s more like Hamilton in the best car and team of all time who says he has “massive skills” can’t outqualify a Toro Rosso
F1oSaurus (@)
24th May 2021, 10:47
@balue Lol, such a weak comeback. Bwahahahahaha
Mayrton
22nd May 2021, 21:24
He had a small chance here, so understand his reaction. Rest of the year I don’t see him challenging Leclerc anymore. I do not consider Sainz on the level of Charles. Max, Charles, Lando & George will need to entertain us the coming decade.
Applebook
22nd May 2021, 22:30
Regardless, Sainz has been really close this weekend, and he likely would have put it P2 or at the very lest P3.
The biggest winners of the crash were Bottas and Leclerc.
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd May 2021, 5:08
@balue
Disagree. Sainz looked like he had the measure of Leclerc since q1. He definitely looked like he could have taken pole today.
Leclerc wasn’t able to stitch up a perfect lap as easily as Sainz could throughout qualifying.
Balue (@balue)
23rd May 2021, 8:22
@todfod There’s ‘looked’ and there’s the clock
kpcart
23rd May 2021, 9:08
Your seeing what you want to see. I think Sainz should have got pole.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
22nd May 2021, 20:59
I think if you’d asked him a month ago about the idea of challenging for pole in a Ferrari…………… I’m sure he’d have taken 4th a couple of rows ahead of Lewis.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
22nd May 2021, 21:03
He should have put down a faster time instead of waiting until the ultimate moment. It’s not like this kind of thing is uncommon. Also it was not impossible that the last moments of qualifying would have been impacted by rain. I wanted to see Carlos up front though.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
23rd May 2021, 3:34
Yes, he seems to have had a chance for pole, at least first row, it could’ve been a ferrari 1-2 as far as quali goes, then you know the team is historically good at throwing away chances. He looked quicker than leclerc all qualifying.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd May 2021, 6:26
Well, Sainz, along with Seb and Gio slightly held up Perez between Rascasse and Anthony Noghes. Thus, he shouldn’t have complained about Perez. Perhaps Perez gave something back.
F1oSaurus (@)
23rd May 2021, 8:43
@jerejj Yeah you’d indeed expect Perez to be so mean spirited that he would do that. Even though clearly they could do nothing about the situation and were all just stuck there.
F1oSaurus (@)
23rd May 2021, 8:58
I have to say I’m impressed with Sainz. If you see Alonso and Ricciardo struggling massively with getting the confidence in their new cars, while Sainz had the confidence and pace to beat Leclerc.
I doubt he would have taken pole, but he might have been ahead of Leclerc.
kpcart
23rd May 2021, 9:10
Look at how close it is from P2… Faster than a blink of an eye.
Dave
23rd May 2021, 10:16
It’s not easy with Charles.