After a not-so impressive run during FP3 with a laptime of 1:37:068 to P8 felt very hopeful for the final qualifying session of the season and his McLaren journey. 

Started Q1 on the soft tyre compounds and managed to get into the top 10 with 1:36:517. 

In Q2, switched from the soft tyre compound to the medium tyre compound as he felt very confident from the free practice sessions from the day prior and managed to put a strong lap to make P8 and advance to Q3. 

Unfortunately, Q3 was when things started to slowly fall. Sainz couldn't manage to put together a strong lap with some overheating issues with a couple mistakes on his side and couldn't qualify further up thus leaving him to start P6 for Sunday's race.

Sainz comments, “A very good day for the team. I think the main thing is that we got the two cars into the top six on split strategies as well. I started off strong, using only one set of tyres to make it into Q2. I had a good feeling with the Medium tyre yesterday and I wanted to give it a go in Q2, managing to put together a strong lap and qualifying for Q3 on that compound. Unfortunately, I couldn’t put together my best lap on my final run in Q3. Some overheating on the rear axle and a couple of mistakes on my side meant I couldn’t qualify further up."

 

 

 

 

 

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He continues, “I wanted to get the highest possible result in my final quali session with the team and maybe I pushed too hard! It’s a shame, but overall I’m happy with what we did in Q1 and Q2 with the Medium tyres, which puts us in a good spot for tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to fighting for McLaren one last time and hopefully bringing home a good result. Vamos!”