It was a chore for Ferrari in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix when Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished the sixth and seventh fastest ahead of P3 rivals McLaren, but the duo admitted they didn’t quite have the performance to make AlphaTauris Beat Pierre Gasly.
Ferrari moved up from McLaren to P3 in the constructors’ championship after Mexico, built up a lead of 13.5 points and managed to extend it with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in eighth and ninth respectively in qualifying on Friday in Brazil.
QUALIFICATION: Hamilton beats Verstappen to seal first place on the grid for the F1 sprint in Brazil
“I managed to get started on Friday,” said Sainz. “If you set this qualifying format at the beginning of the year, I would have to struggle a little more. But now, at the end of the year, I had the feeling that I had been at the top since FP1, which enabled me to put together some good laps in Q1, Q2 and get into Q3 and do a good lap. “
In the second qualifying in a row, Gasly beat both Ferraris, which the Spaniard, who overtook a team-mate in a conventional qualifying for the first time in Interlagos, had expected.
Qualifying highlights: São Paulo Grand Prix 2021
“It’s not a surprise,” he said. “You have a very strong car, you have been very fast all season, and right now you seem to be finding the consistency that you may have lacked at the beginning. And this car is really fast.
“We’ll try to beat it and keep improving because as Ferrari we don’t want to be beaten by AlphaTauri even if we both beat McLarens.”
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Sainz ‘team-mate Leclerc was just over a tenth of a second behind and was not very happy with his performance.
“It just wasn’t that great in Q3,” said the Monegasque. “We did the first few runs on used tires, which wasn’t good for my rhythm, and then I didn’t work well enough on the second run in Q3. AlphaTauri was probably just too fast, but that’s how it is. “
He added: “[Beating McLaren] is today’s positive, but I wish there was a better result. “
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