Sainz: Starting on clean side, there’s everything to play for

The Spaniard was third fastest in qualifying at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, 0.082s off polesitter Max Verstappen, and 0.053s off his teammate Charles Leclerc in second, but the Spaniard is not discouraged despite the fine margins by which he lost out.

"I think starting P3 on the clean side, there’s everything to play for," Sainz told Formula 1's official website. "I think it’s going to be fun racing here with the amount of slipstream there is, and tows, and DRS.

"I think it’s going to be good fun and we’re going to have a good weekend," he added.

"For sure when you look back and you see how close it is, you look back to the lap and find places where you’ve left that tenth of a second that could have given us pole," he reflected. "But I’m sure these two guys also know where they lost it, or where they gained it.

"The good thing is, we put a good lap there at the end of Q3," Sainz maintained. "It wasn’t easy because the tyres were very cold after the red flag [caused by George Russell’s crash], and trust in the car into Turn 1 and Turn 3 wasn’t the easiest.

"But I know where the lap time is, I just wish I could have done it a little bit better. But I’m going to take P3 and being close to these two guys [Verstappen and Leclerc]," he insisted.

Sainz has been struggling this year compared to teammate Charles Leclerc, but has scored his first win in the previous race at Silverstone where he also registered his first career pole as well.

"I’m getting there," he said when asked about his progress. "This quali was strong, especially Q3, peaking at the right time, not taking too many risks in Q1 and Q2 and going for it in Q3.

"I think there’s progress being done, and I’m definitely a lot more confident and comfortable after the last three races," the Spaniard revealed.

Later in Ferrari's post qualifying press release, Sainz said: "That was extremely close! It was a positive qualifying in general. We managed to build the speed through the session and put in a good lap at the end.

"The first couple of corners of that final run were very tricky as we had lost temperature on the tyres due to the second red flag.

"In the end, we missed out on a better result by less than a tenth, so I think we are up for an interesting Sprint tomorrow and GP on Sunday, as we have a strong pace.

"We’ll prepare as best as possible and fight for a good result!" the Ferrari driver concluded.