Carlos Sainz's Saturday ended with a fourth place in the qualifications of the Hungarian GP. The Spanish driver managed to achieve Ferrari's best result in a difficult session, with uncertain conditions and a track that was sometimes dry and sometimes wet. The goal is to get back on the podium, even if with the McLarens and Verstappen in front it won't be easy at all. Of the three cars in the first two rows, the Ferrari is the least competitive. The match still remains to be evaluated, for which Sainz however says he is confident.
Sainz: “It wasn't possible to do better”
Ferrari is trying to find the square. The hat-trick of Spain, Austria and Silverstone left many doubts as well as a bitter taste in the mouth. After the comparative tests at Silverstone, Ferrari arrived in Hungary with the aim of maximizing the result by starting from the problems highlighted in past races. The journey is still long, and in these first two days the gaps have become evident. The difficulty was mainly caused by Leclerc being forced to make several corrections. The Monegasque finished qualifying in sixth position. He could have aspired to a better result given Sainz's placing, fourth in qualifying in Hungary.
If for Leclerc the result was more disappointing than expected, Carlos Sainz sees the glass half full. The Spaniard admitted at the end of qualifying in Hungary the difficulties in extracting more than he did from this SF-24. The gap with McLaren and Red Bull is still wide, so it is difficult to hypothesize a position other than P4 which will allow Sainz to remain in the podium area in any eventuality.
“In terms of position, more than P4 was not possible today – admitted Sainz. Today we were, except for FP1, 3-4 tenths behind Red Bull and McLaren, and getting a fourth position on a difficult circuit like the one in Hungary is always good. We'll see tomorrow what we can do by starting in P4, throughout the weekend I did some good laps, a very solid Q2 and a Q3 that allows me to start fourth."
Source statements: sky sports f1
