Sainz embodies the spirit of Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve
F1 NewsSaturday, 20 April 2024 at 13:53
Carlos Sainz embodied the spirit of Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve, during Qualifying for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, the Spaniard recovering from a heavy barrier thump to end the intriguing session P7.
It was a remarkable save by Sainz, who lost control on the perilous exit of the final corner (ask Antonio Giovinazzi) and then went on to drive his Ferrari back to the pits without the front wing and things dangling from the side of the Red car.
But he had the foresight to brake heavily, flick the car parallel to the barriers to incur minimum damage from an incident that might have wrecked his car. Sainz recovered the 'damaged' SF-24 to find that Ferrari indeed build them cars strong.
He was back out for Q3, thanks to efficient work from his crew, where he put it P7, fractionally down on teammate Charles Leclerc in P6.
The effort and the images of the 'broken' Ferrari making its way back to the track triggered memories of the great Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve. A Scuderia cult hero when he lived, now one of their heroic martyrs forever appreciated by Tifosi. One can imagine GV doing what Carlos Junior did today.
Villeneuve was known to push the limit of F1 cars more than most ever have
Gilles was known to have his fair share of 'excursions' as he pushed the boundaries of GP tracks more than anyone of his generation. Bent metal happened, but whenever possible, wheels missing or not, he always attempted to return his Ferrari to the pits, no matter what state it was in.
The great Gilles was robbed of his life far too early, but his legacy is well-lit by son and F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Maybe he too saw hints of his father's tenacity in Sainz's recent performances, including his 'comeback' win in Melbourne after appendicitis surgery not long before that,
Sainz's performances have impressed Jacques, who told Casino Online In: "Carlos Sainz has responded so well after basically being kicked out of Ferrari. We can see he is not there to play second fiddle to Leclerc. He is there to play his game and show the world what he can do. He is starting to make a difference with Charles.
"He has put himself in the shop window big time. He is the only one winning races for Ferrari. His value will have really gone up over the past three years. Every time he has made a move people have said the team who have signed him are taking a risk. Every time he performs better than expected. He is certainly outperforming Leclerc.
"People are starting to realise he is a serious contender. He is very mature and dedicated, clever and works hard which is really making the difference. Talent alone is not enough."
Jacques: There are two camps in Ferrari
Villeneuve ventured: "One camp wanted Hamilton and the other wanted to keep Leclerc. So Sainz was the sacrificial lamb. Ironically, Sainz will probably walk out with a better situation. You must wonder if they think: what have we done?!"
In Shanghai on Saturday after Qualy, Sainz reported: "This qualifying session didn't go as well as we hoped, but even after the incident in the last corner we managed to keep it together and reacted positively right away.
"Overall it was a tough session for us, as we struggled a bit too much in sector 1 and our total lap time wasn’t enough to fight for better positions.
"However I’m confident that in the race, with this set up, we will be faster than some of the rivals starting in front of us. We are up for an interesting race tomorrow where strategy will also play an important role," added Sainz.
In the sister car, Leclerc, who has appeared rattled by Sainz's surge in form, did enough to pip his teammate by the finest of margins (-0.008s to be precise!) for P6 on the grid.
Leclerc: We compromised our qualifying by prioritising the race
Charles revealed in the Ferrari Qualy report: "We compromised our qualifying by prioritising for the race tomorrow and struggled slightly more than we expected. Our race pace is strong and it will be a long one, with tyre degradation playing a big role here.
"Even the smallest change of wind can influence the car balance, so anything can happen. We will push and let’s see what is possible," added Leclerc.
Final word to Ferrari F1 boss Fred Vasseur: "We were expecting a better result to be honest. This afternoon our performance was quite inconsistent not just from one session to another, but from one run to another.
"I think both our drivers did the maximum today as the fact that they set basically the same time in Q3 is there to show but it was definitely a chaotic afternoon.
"Carlos made a mistake in Q2 but was able to manage the crash and bring the car back to continue the session. Of course, we need to keep working on where we are lacking over a flying lap.
"From what we saw this morning in the Sprint Race it seems that we have a good pace over a long stint. It’s going to be a long race in which tyre degradation will play a part and good pitstops and strategy can also make a difference.
"We will prepare in detail for the race, as we have seen that overtaking is possible unless you are stuck in a DRS train as was the case this morning," added Vasseur, whose team are being counted on to challenge Red Bull's dominance this season and keep the 2024 F1 World Championship a contest for as long as possible.
(Additional Quotes by Agnes Carlier in Shanghai)
Latest News
Loading
