Carlos Sainz He was rather optimistic ahead of Sunday’s race in Baku. The Spaniard will start from third position on a track that has not been good to him in the past, but he believes he can fight for victory in the Azerbaijan F1 GP. “We are in a good position to fight for the podium and the victory tomorrow.” assured the Ferrari driver after having signed a very good classification.
The Scuderia rounded off an impeccable Saturday with Leclerc on pole and Carlos Sainz third. Only Piastri was able to squeeze between the two Italian cars: “Yes, I think we had a very solid day“It’s a good day with both cars and we’re in a very good position for tomorrow.” Furthermore, Sainz warns that he has a good race pace: “I’ve never been one hundred percent on this track in my career. It’s a track where it costs me, third is a good position for tomorrow and my race pace was very strong, so everything is set for tomorrow.
Regarding the track conditions, which improved as qualifying progressed, Carlos Sainz told Formula 1’s official channel: “Yes, the track was getting better and better. The grip we had was increasing and as the sun went down, we had to adapt. I found something in the third trimester that gave me a little more confidence.. It was surely not the best start to Q3, but it was enough to get into the top three.
On whether or not it was possible for Ferrari to finish first and second because Oscar Piastri was so far away, Sainz commented that he had to be quicker to beat the McLaren, but stressed that in the race they will be able to surpass him: “If he had been a little bit quicker yes, but This is Baku and I have never shown my best version herebut I think tomorrow we can do it.
The exit will be the key
Shortly after attending DAZN, where he was very happy with the result obtained and warns that in the race he usually goes faster and will go for it: “Yes, relatively happy. I don’t like being third, three or four tenths from pole, but on the other hand, it’s a circuit on which I’ve always been quite bad in the past, it cost me dearly. If we add to that that it’s Charles Leclerc’s favorite circuit, which is noticeable, in the end being third is not a bad position. In racing, I usually go a little faster, I usually go a little more comfortably. when I get into the rhythm. “We are in a good position to fight for both the podium and the victory tomorrow.”
The key to being able to fight for victory will be to get off to a good start, even if In Baku, “anything can happen”. It’s a track where absolutely anything can happen due to the nature of the circuit. It’s going to be very tight with the four leading teams. We are all more or less at the same tenth of the race pace. Let’s go, see where a good outing takes usif we can do it, and a good strategy. Let’s see if we can do a clean race.
