Sainz revealed after Friday’s practice running at the Bahrain International Circuit that he was struggling to understand the Ferrari F1-75 car over the short runs, leaving him with work to do overnight.
But he bounced back in qualifying by taking provisional pole in Q3 ahead of Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, only to slip to third during the final runs.
The Spaniard wound up 0.129 seconds off Leclerc’s pole time, but felt pleased to have even been in the fight after struggling through practice.
“It’s been a very difficult weekend for me, I’ve been slow, simple as that,” said Sainz. “Charles has been doing a much better job than me all weekend, and I have been playing catch-up.
“Honestly, there’s been points this weekend that I was very far behind, so by the time I hit qualy and I was fighting for pole, I was a bit more relieved.
“In the last lap, [Leclerc] did a very good lap. I think he put together everything, and at that point, you just need to…
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