MADRID, 9 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
The Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) described what happened in Q3 of the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session as an “absolute disaster”, in which a mechanical problem prevented him from being in a position to fight for pole position, and has stressed that it will be difficult to come back due to the elimination of the last DRS zone in Albert Park.
“We have had a Q3 that has been an absolute disaster, first with a red flag that has not allowed us to set a good lap at the beginning of the session that would have been a good time to get ahead. The red flag came out just when I was going to cross the finish line,” he told DAZN.
The man from Madrid also regretted the incident with his car in the final round. “Then, with the second set of tyres, the car wouldn’t start. We had the tires ready to do a warm-up lap and then pull, and the car for some reason didn’t start, we weren’t able to react fast enough, we went out track late,” he said.
“On that lap, with the cold tyre, I had to warm up and that’s why we’re so far behind. We have to analyze it, but the truth is that Q3 was a disaster,” continued the Spaniard, who will start ninth, sharing a row with a Fernando Alonso (Alpine) who also had problems in the session.
Finally, Sainz recalled that the elimination of the last DRS zone in Albert Park will be a drag on the comeback. “On top of that, they have taken away the fourth DRS zone, which will make overtaking much more complicated. In addition, this weekend it seems that all the cars are a little closer together, the Red Bulls and the Ferraris do not have that advantage that perhaps we had the other day or in other circuits,” he warned.
It’s going to be a difficult day tomorrow, but I’ll try to come back as much as I can,” he said, before pointing out that the removal of the DRS zone has “affected everyone equally.” “It’s no excuse. What is going to affect the most is overtaking,” she concluded.