F1: Charles Leclerc gnaws at mistake, Carlos Sainz aims high

Carlos Sainz enjoys his first career pole in Formula 1.

Carlos Sainz enjoys his first career pole in Formula 1 at Silverstone: the Spanish driver beat his two rivals Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. “Thanks to the public who cheered for me. It was a good lap, however, I struggled a lot with the puddles on the intermediate tires. It was very easy to lose the car and maybe ruin the lap. It was also difficult to get the intermediates up to temperature in these conditions, but in the end I put together a lap that didn’t feel like anything special.”

“I timed it to see how it was going and got pole position, which was a little surprising. The pace was there all weekend, apart from FP3 where we had some problems that we think we’ve corrected for qualifying. However looking at the FP2 long-runs we should be in a good position to try to defend this first place. Max and Charles will put great pressure on me, but I will give my best.”

Charles Leclerc, third, paid for his mistake at the last attempt when he lost control of his car: “Disappointed with third place? Yes, but I am happy for Sainz who did a great job today. Too bad about the last lap, I was getting better but I spun, I couldn’t put it all together so I didn’t deserve the pole.”

On the race: “Third position is still a good starting point, I hope to make a comeback; the pace is there, if we have a clean race we can play for it. Some might go for a strategy with one stop, others with two, hopefully we will choose the right one; tire management will be decisive, hopefully tomorrow will be the right day.”