Carlos Sainz upset about his controversial penalty

Carlos Sainz might regret it. The Spanish driver had an impressive qualifying session. Alongside his teammate Charles Leclerc, they finished all three sessions at the top of the rankings. The 29-year-old athlete achieved the second-best time on three occasions.

However, he will only start in 12th place on Sunday. Carlos Sainz had received a controversial penalty at the end of FP1.

Carlos Sainz congratulates his garage

Carlos Sainz wasn’t lucky during the first practice session. The Scuderia driver ran over a manhole cover, which then came loose. He had to stop his car a few meters further. The Italian garage then restarted his single-seater, but the electronic control package had to be changed. An incident that has a direct consequence as it is the third change of this kind. He has therefore received a 10-position penalty on the grid.

Carlos Sainz, who was supposed to start in P2, finds himself forced to start in the middle of the pack. The team did an exceptional job, exclaimed his former teammate Lando Norris after the qualifiers. We dominated the qualifiers together after a difficult day repairing the car. Locking out the front row is incredible. Obviously, I would like to be on pole because that would mean starting 11th. But I think we did our best. Obviously, I am still disappointed from yesterday, I won’t lie. I am still in a very bad mood, but I’m trying not to show it too much.

Despite Ferrari’s appeal, the regulations do not allow such action, the commissioners announced.

Carlos Sainz optimistic

Despite this compromising event, the 29-year-old driver remains confident for the Sunday race. Ferrari has been dominating these three sessions and displaying a very interesting pace. “My race obviously depends on how the start unfolds, tire graining, and the ease of overtaking,” explained Carlos Sainz. “We clearly have the pace. I would love to fight for the victory tomorrow with Charles and Max, but unfortunately, I’ll have to focus on making a comeback. I hope to lead the race at some point, but I think it’s going to be tricky.”

Carlos Sainz has a 22-point lead over his teammate in the driver’s championship.