Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz achieved his first-ever Formula 1 pole position in the difficult conditions of a wet British Grand Prix qualifying. With the ever-changing conditions of a rain-soaked Silverstone Circuit, he said that putting together each lap was a challenge– making his pole position all the more memorable.
“I’m extremely happy today! Securing my first pole at Silverstone in the wet is something special that I will never forget. The whole qualifying was very tricky, and every lap was a new adventure because of the track conditions. Finding grip and traction was a huge challenge and every lap you had to adapt.
Sainz is motivated for race day, and hopes to convert his first-ever pole position to his first-ever win. To secure the top step of the podium, however, he said that he will have to face the stiff competition of those nearby, including the likes of Max Verstappen who joins him on the front row as well as his team-mate Charles Leclerc who will start third.
“On the very last attempt I went for it and managed to put a good lap together that gave us pole. The confidence for tomorrow is high and hopefully we can bring our good pace from Friday into the race. It will be a very tight battle with our competitors, but I’m ready for it and I’m sure we can put together a strong race and fight for the win. Let’s race.”
“It’s good to see that we’ve found some consistency in the wet.” – Charles Leclerc
Having spun out on his final qualifying run, Charles Leclerc was dissatisfied with his qualifying performance, which left him out of contention for pole position in a particularly dynamic session– leaving him to start the race in third place.
Leclerc said that he is pleased to see his teammate take pole, and is also glad that the team was able to find such success in the rain, considering Ferrari’s performance in wet conditions in recent seasons.
“Unfortunately, I spun on that last lap in Q3 and didn’t put it together as I wanted to, so I am disappointed, but I am happy that Carlos finished on pole. I felt confident in the car and we were quite competitive, even in these conditions which is where we struggled quite a lot for the past two years. It’s good to see that we’ve found some consistency in the wet.”
With uncertainty as to whether the race will be best run as a one stop or two stop, Leclerc said that his aim for race day is a 1-2 finish– a result he hopes to fight for with a competitive strategy.
“Strategies will be different between teams tomorrow, so whether it will be one or two stops, I hope we can gain something by making good moves and fight for a 1-2 for our team.”
Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd