Carlos Sainz believes Pole Position was possible today in Melbourne, but his recovery from surgery limited his ultimate performance. Still, the Spaniard is happy overall with his Saturday outing in the SF-24 machine. Looking ahead to the Australian GP, he wants to continue learning about Ferrari’s 2024 challenger.
Ferrari fell slightly short of expectations in qualifying, with Sainz and Leclerc finishing second and fifth fastest, respectively. However, a penalty for Perez demotes the Red Bull driver and promotes the Monegasque onto the second row for Sunday’s race.
Still, the Italian outfit felt Pole Position was within reach in Albert Park. Despite Max Verstappen’s brilliant Pole time, the data clearly shows Fred Vasseur’s team left some time on the table.
On Leclerc’s side of the garage, there was frustration about the SF-24’s handling. In a rare instance this season, Leclerc was caught out by the characteristics of the car. Considering his promising race simulations on Friday, missing a chance to start from first place will be additionally frustrating.
Meanwhile, there is admiration for Carlos Sainz’s efforts across the paddock. Despite not being at 100% physically, the Spaniard was only bettered by the reigning Champion.
This puts the 29-year-old in a strong position to recover the points lost from his Jeddah absence. A good start for the Ferrari pairing could give the strategists at Maranello plenty of options to consider. Tyre degradation could make both one and two-stop strategies viable tomorrow.
CARLOS SAINZ: P1 WAS POSSIBLE
For all these positives, Australia qualifying was bitter-sweet for Sainz:
“I think you can see it both ways. I think if you would have told me two weeks ago when I got the appendix removed that I would be in Australia ready to go again and fighting for pole position, I would have 100% taken it.
“After being P1 in Q1 and P1 in Q2, and knowing that I left some time on the table in Q3, it’s obviously a bit disappointing, but it’s normal also. I didn’t do quali in Jeddah.
“I’m probably a bit out of shape also and I’m probably still learning this new car. I missed a qualifying session in Jeddah and a full race. So probably there were things there in Jeddah that I could have learned through quali that I could have applied today that I couldn’t apply in Q3.
“And the car surprised me in a couple of corners once we started to crank in the flying lap lap. And yeah, it wasn’t the cleanest of laps.”
As mentioned previously, the Italian squad might hoped for slightly more today. Pole Position seemed possible, and even likely, in the first two sessions.
However, Ferrari’s disappointment is also a testament to their progress over winter. The team’s growing confidence that strong starting positions can be converted across a race distance is also evident.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Max Verstappen is obviously the favourite. Ferrari’s aim will be to optimise their start and, by extension, try to put the Dutchman under pressure and test the RB20’s limits.
