Carlos Sainz concluded qualifying for the United States Grand Prix in Austin with a strong third place, confirming Ferrari's good feeling on a circuit that seems to suit the SF-24 perfectly. After an exciting Sprint Race in which he took second place, the Spaniard said he was confident for Sunday's race, despite a small disappointment for his last attempt which was interrupted by the yellow flags caused by George Russell's accident.
Solid qualifications, but with a hint of regret
Sainz expressed satisfaction with the result, but admitted he was a little disappointed that his final lap, which he had been improving significantly, was cut short. “I don’t know if I could have actually taken pole, but there were only two corners to go and I was improving by three tenths. I was very confident about the lap I was completing, but unfortunately the yellow flag came out.” Despite this, Sainz remained optimistic. “Overall, third reflects how we were doing throughout the session, and I think it’s a good base to start from and fight for the race.”
A step ahead of the Sprint
Sainz explained that the main objective for the session was qualifications in Austin was to improve on the result obtained in the Sprint Race, where he had finished in fifth position. “We made good progress in the right direction. Yesterday we were fifth, today we are third, we have made good progress. I concentrated on improving the warm-up of the tyres and it seems that we did everything right, especially on the lap that we then had to abort.”

Confidence for the race
Looking ahead to Sunday's race, Sainz was cautiously optimistic: "We have the pace to fight against the fastest guys, I think it will be an entertaining race. In other circumstances we have struggled to find the right window to use the tyres, but here things went well. If we can get a good start, we can really fight with Norris and Verstappen."
Sainz ended the day feeling confident, knowing that Ferrari has shown it can be competitive in both qualifying and the race, and he hopes he can use the pace of the SF-24 to aim for a podium, if not victory, in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Source statements: SkySportF1