Carlos Sainz finished the Sprint Qualifying session of the Qatar Grand Prix in fourth place, a result that, despite the difficulties encountered, allows him to start from the second row next to the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. The Spaniard spoke about the complications encountered during his fast lap, including understeer and dirty air caused by the presence of Max Verstappen in front of him.
Sainz's problems in sprint qualifying in Qatar
“Unfortunately I found myself in a complicated situation,” Sainz explained to the microphones after the sprint qualifying in Qatar. “In the first two sectors I had Max in front, who was preparing the tyres for his lap, and this forced me to follow in dirty air. Furthermore, the balance of the car was not optimal: I had a lot of understeer and I was struggling to turn the car. When I relaunched, the problem was still there, and with such a precarious balance it was easy to end up beyond the limits of the track. Despite this, I managed to do enough time for fourth place.”
A complex, but not compromised qualification
Sainz's day in Losail was not an easy one. After a promising free practice session, the Spaniard struggled to manage his fastest lap. The presence of understeer, particularly evident in the technical corners of the circuit, made it difficult to maximize the potential of the SF-24. Furthermore, the only attempt available to record a competitive time increased the pressure on Sainz, forcing him to drive more conservatively to avoid mistakes.
“We didn’t manage to maximise our package,” Sainz admitted after sprint qualifying in Qatar. “Even though the lap was clean, I had a lot of understeer and basically couldn’t turn the car the whole lap. It was also difficult because I only had one chance to do a good lap, so I couldn’t take too many risks with the track limits.”

A look at the rest of the weekend
Despite the difficulties, Sainz was optimistic about the rest of the weekend. Saturday's Sprint Race will provide an opportunity to further test the balance of the car and try to gain valuable positions for the constructors' championship. With 19 laps to go, Sainz sees room for improvement for Ferrari, especially with a revised set-up and more effective use of the soft tyres.
“We can improve a lot tomorrow,” said the Spaniard. “We have the potential to make steps forward, especially with the soft tyres. We need to work on the set-up to solve the balance issues, but I am confident that we can have a good race.”
The fight in the builders continues
Sprint qualifying confirmed the superiority of McLaren, with Norris on pole and Piastri third. However, Sainz's placing represents an important result for Ferrari in the tight fight with the Woking team for the constructors' title.
The Maranello team will aim to maximise results both in the Sprint and in Sunday's race, with Sainz and Leclerc, trying to take advantage of every opportunity to reduce the gap with McLaren.
Source statements: FormulaPassion