It was a disappointing qualifying session for Carlos Sainz, at his second weekend with Scuderia Ferrari. The Spaniard has paid for his lack of confidence on the narrow track in Imola entitled to Enzo and Dino Ferrari, and couldn't make it to Q3. Sainz's lap time in Q2 was just 0.061s slower than Lance Stroll lap time as the Canadian in the Aston Martin squeezed through in P10. Sainz will start from the sixth row, but will have free choice of tyre for the start. Despite the disappointing ending in quali, Sainz knows he is capable of gaining positions during the race and will look to bag solid points in the race tomorrow. Surely he is still suffering from lack of experience with the SF21.

🏁 ELIMINATED: Q2 🏁

Sainz (📸)
Russell
Vettel
Latifi
Alonso#ImolaGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ptAZMcERPU

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 17, 2021

"Today’s result is not what I wanted - he revealed - I struggled to nail all the corners in one single lap since the beginning of qualifying. Every small mistake can cost you many positions in this tight field, so I am not happy because I know the lap time was there had I been able to make it all work on one strong lap". 

"At the same time, I think this track has exposed that I still lack a bit of experience with the car to exactly know what to expect and how to extract the absolute maximum of it - Sainz admitted - it will come, I’m sure, but I feel I’m still on a learning curve.

"Into tomorrow, you can be sure I’ll give my absolute best to gain positions and fight for the best result possible. I’m confident in my pace and we will try to use the free tyre choice to our advantage”.