Carlos Sainz thought he had produced a lap good enough for pole position at the Las Vegas Grand Prix but still believes he will face a tough challenge to finish on the podium on Saturday night.
The Williams driver went to provisional pole position with his final attempt at the end of Q3 but was just pipped by Max Verstappen before Lando Norris went 0.3s clear of the pair in wet conditions. Sainz says he dared to dream of securing pole before he noticed how many cars were still to finish their laps, but had been confident of a good grid position throughout qualifying.
“It was a very good lap,” Sainz said. “I thought it was a pole-worthy lap. When I closed the lap, I saw myself in P1, and then I realized I was the first car across the flag, and maybe that was not going to last very long with these two guys coming behind, but it felt like a really good quali.
“If anything, I think we were more competitive on the extreme wet [tire] in Q1 and Q2. I wish it would have stayed ex-wet because that was the tire that gave me the best feeling and the best confidence. Every time we were hitting the board, we were P1.
“But on inters I was expecting to go slower given our FP3 performance wasn’t great, and in the end it turned out to be just fine. But in the end, it couldn’t be [pole].
“I’ve had a good feeling [all weekend]. It’s just been very disrupted and we’ve never been able to show ourselves or show our pace in the top of the timings. Obviously in the dry, I don’t think we would have been more than P6, P5, P7, P8 in that range.
“The wet allowed us to shine a bit more and to lead through stages of Q1, Q2 and Q3. I don’t think in the dry that would have been possible, and I don’t expect if the race is dry to be able to hold on to P3. But I think in the wet, we were definitely quick.”
With Norris and Verstappen sharing the front row and the Dutchman needing to make inroads in the title fight, Sainz says he doesn’t expect either of the top two to be particularly cautious.
“I think it will be more down to the pace rather than the risk that anyone can afford. I’m also starting up front, and it’s a pretty good result if we can bring it home. So I think we’re all more or less in similar positions.
“For me, it’s more about trying to hold on to that P3 if I can, given that there will be very fast cars coming behind with the Mercedes, the other McLaren, Ferraris that were strong in the dry. So I’m gonna give it my best shot.
“You saw me in Baku or in Austin – when I’m up there fighting for the podium, I just try not to make mistakes and see if I can make myself as wide as possible and see if we can bring home a stronger than expected result. And I’ll be pushing to make it happen.”
