The F1 Las Vegas GP Qualifying was filled with yellow flags, low grip, and surprises. While the drivers struggled in the tough conditions, Carlos Sainz was one of the drivers who came out on top. The Williams driver finished the session just behind Max Verstappen, meaning that he lines up third on the grid for the race.
In the Parc Fermé interviews, Sainz was asked if he was expecting the quick pace in the wet. The Spaniard positively stated:
“I mean, I’m always optimistic. You know, a dream is for free and I always try and think about myself doing well. This track maybe suited our car in the dry, and in the wet in FP3, we didn’t look very promising, but we did a few changes to the car that I think helped in the wet, and that allowed me to — from the first lap of Q1, every time I was finishing the lap, I was P1, P1, P1. On Ex-Wet, I was really, really quick. On Inters, I knew the others maybe would catch up a bit. But, yeah, happy with P3.”
Since joining Williams this year, Sainz has been fairly impressive, showing pace and determination for the mid-field team. Even managing to grab a podium for the team in Azerbaijan.
Sainz deems his final lap “pole-worthy”
While the practice sessions looked decent for the Williams driver, Qualifying had him put up a brilliant effort. The Williams of Sainz looked quick throughout the session and ended up being enough to put him on the second row. In the FIA Press Conference, Sainz spoke about his final lap of the Qualifying session, expressing:
“Yeah, it was a very good lap. I thought it was a pole-worthy lap. When I closed the lap, I saw myself in P1, and then I realised I was the first car across the flag. And yeah, maybe that was not going to last very long with these two guys coming behind, but it felt like a really good quali.
“If anything, I think we were more competitive on the Extreme Wet in Q1 and Q2. I wish it would have stayed Ex-Wet because that was the tyre that gave me the best feeling and the best confidence. Every time we were hitting the board, we were P1. But yeah, on Inters I was expecting to go slower given our FP3 performance wasn’t great, and in the end it turned out to be just fine. But yeah, in the end, it couldn’t be.”
Quick in the wet
Next, the Spaniard was asked if he had a good feeling from the car from the first lap of the weekend.
“Yeah, I’ve had a good feeling. It’s just been very disrupted and we’ve never been able to show ourselves or show our pace in the top of the timings. Obviously in the dry, I don’t think we would have been more than P6, P5, P7, P8 in that range.
“The wet allowed us today to shine a bit more and to lead through stages of Q1, Q2 and Q3. I don’t think in the dry that would have been possible, and I don’t expect if the race is dry tomorrow to be able to hold on to P3. But I think in the wet, we were definitely quick,” Sainz responded.
Incident with Stroll goes unpunished
After the Qualifying session, Sainz was summoned to the stewards for investigation after a potential unsafe re-joining on the track. The incident took place during Q1. Sainz went wide at Turn 5 before re-joining the track just as Lance Stroll was approaching. While his weekend could have turned sour if he had been hit with a penalty, it continues on a good note. After hearing from both drivers involved and the team representatives, the stewards decided on no further action.
When asked about the incident, Sainz stated:
“Yeah. I went straight in Turn 5, I did one of the 180s that people have to do around here. I knew I was generating a yellow flag at the time. And I was just trying to get the yellow flag to stop as soon as possible and get myself back onto the track. I guess Lance had a yellow flag with me, so I tried to rejoin as heavily as I could and tried to avoid giving more people a yellow flag.
“But I think we were all on build-ups, trying to get the tyre into temperature, all doing mistakes. It was the beginning of Q1 when I think some people were still on inters, struggling to keep it on track—and that was me. Visibility also was extremely poor.”
Challenging conditions
Several of the drivers have expressed that the wet conditions were immensely tricky during Qualifying. When asked about braking in the wet and low grip around the Strip, Sainz explained the situation, stating:
“Just trying to explain it to people, it’s very difficult because I don’t think people know how tricky conditions actually were today. How little grip we had with the low-downforce wings, the low-grip tarmac, the cold tyres. I think in lap one of Q1 when we all went out on Inters, the tyres were just getting cold, and we should have been on extremes. We all boxed for extremes. Those were the two laps where I was expecting three red flags in a row. because I couldn’t even keep it flat out on the straight.
“I couldn’t see. I couldn’t see the white lines, I couldn’t see people in front, I couldn’t see people behind. It’s chaos. And no one enjoys those moments, because when you cannot see and you don’t feel the grip, it’s very, very difficult. But then when it comes to Q3, I think it’s more we’re doing incremental margins—trying to predict how much drier the track is and how much extra grip we’re going to get. But you’re not braking more than, maximum, five metres later, three metres later, which when you arrive at 350, it’s not like you can judge very well those three metres—you’re just guessing.”
Attempting to balance the risk versus reward when on a push lap in difficult conditions is immensely tricky. With low night temperatures, low grip, and a slippery track the margins of error are thin. The poor visibility around the track might be the most dooming as they have to take a gamble when braking.
Fighting for another podium
While Sainz has already secured a podium for Williams this season, his chances of grabbing another are getting closer. When asked about the race tomorrow and the risk he can afford compared to the cars ahead, he explained:
“I think it will be more down to the pace rather than the risk that anyone can afford. I’m also starting up front, and it’s a pretty good result if we can bring it home. So I think we’re all more or less in similar positions. For me, it’s more about trying to hold on to that P3 if I can, given that there will be very fast cars coming behind with the Mercs, the other McLaren, Ferraris that were strong in the dry.
“So yeah, I’m gonna give it my best shot. I mean, you saw me in Baku or in Austin—when I’m up there fighting for the podium, I just try not to make mistakes and see if I can make myself as wide as possible and see if we can bring home a stronger than expected result. And I’ll be pushing to make it happen.”
The Spanish driver refers back to his podium finish in Baku and his effort in Austin. Austin had him finish P3 in the Sprint race. As he lines up third on the grid, Sainz has a real chance of grabbing more podiums before the season concludes.
