Carlos Sainz admittedly missed pole position in the Miami Grand Prix by a handful of hundredths against his teammate Charles Leclercbut the Spaniard is likely still very happy to clinch the front row after a tough start to the weekend.
In the wall very early during the second free practice session, the driver Ferrari was deprived of driving on a Miami circuit that he was discovering. Sainz’s morale was therefore low when he took part in qualifying but, at the cost of a few good laps, he managed to regain the lost confidence.
“I recovered a bit from the crash [de vendredi]it was not at all easy to regain confidence on a circuit as difficult as that of Miami”he explains. “I kept a cool head until Q3. I think I did some good laps. It wasn’t quite enough for pole position but considering where I was starting from, I’ll accept it .”
With a clear view on the first corner for the start of the race, Sainz is in an excellent position to claim the podium this weekend, if not more. But the Spaniard will continue to suffer the consequences of his accident in practice since it prevented him from simulating race stints.
“With everything that’s happened this weekend, I think it’s going to be an interesting day”he says about the race. “I haven’t done any long stints yet, I haven’t tried the car with a full tank of gas yet. So the grid laps will be the first ones where I get that feeling, which could be quite difficult [pour la course]. But at the same time, I feel confident in the car. Driving is really nice here. So I think we can do a good job.”