Carlos Sainz Jnr did not hide his frustration after a series of misfortunes in qualifying left him only ninth on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz had been quicker than team mate Charles Leclerc over the opening two sectors of his first flying lap in Q3, but was denied the chance to complete the lap when race control red flagged the session because of Fernando Alonso’s crash at turn 11. Sainz was mere metres from the finishing line when the session was halted.
When Q3 eventually resumed, with seven minutes remaining, Sainz did not take to the track again until there were only three minutes left on the clock, meaning he didn’t have time to run extra laps to prepare his tyres as others did.
“What do I have time for?,” Sainz asked race engineer Riccardo Adami as he made his way out onto the circuit. “Single push. Single push, I’m afraid,” Adami replied.
When he began his timed effort, Sainz was again quicker than Leclerc over the first two sectors of the lap,…