Ferrari missed out on an opportunity to secure a top-three starting position for the Australian Grand Prix after a series of miscommunications, Carlos Sainz Jnr believes.
Sainz took fifth on the grid at Albert Park, two places ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc. Ahead, Max Verstappen took another pole position for Red Bull after Sergio Perez skidded out of Q1. The Mercedes drivers of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will line up behind Verstappen in second and third.
Due to the cool temperatures in Melbourne across the weekend, many teams opted to run ‘build’ laps at slightly reduced speeds to generate tyre temperature before pushing to set competitive times on their third lap. In the closing minutes of Q3, Ferrari sent both their drivers out on new soft tyres, with Sainz ahead of team mate Leclerc.
While Sainz was planning to run a build lap, Leclerc behind him prepared to push from the end of his out lap out of fear that rain could be set to fall over the circuit. Leclerc was told by race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros that his team mate would “give him a tow on the main straight”. However, when Sainz began his build lap, Leclerc was just over three seconds behind his team mate on the Albert Park circuit.
Sainz appeared to be concerned about getting in the way of his team mate before the long back straight and decided to pull over on the exit of turn four to allow Leclerc through. This prevented him from impeding Leclerc but also denied him a possible slipstream along the straight. After letting Leclerc by, Sainz was then informed multiple times that both Fernando Alonso and George Russell behind him on track were on ‘push’ laps, when both were actually on ‘build’ laps.
Sainz backed off on the run to turn 11 to allow Alonso by, only to find the Aston Martin driver slowed to prepare for his flying lap in the final corners. This forced Sainz to back off further to build a gap to Alonso so he could begin his final push lap in clear air.
The Ferrari’s tyre temperatures would have fallen further and Sainz grappled with his car through the first corner, losing four tenths to pole winner Verstappen by the braking zone of turn four and two tenths to Russell’s Mercedes. By the end of the lap. Sainz was less than two tenths behind Hamilton’s third-placed Mercedes.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Leclerc could only manage seventh at the chequered flag and sarcastically thanked his…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…