Sainz: Originally we planned that I would help Charles

Charles Leclerc won French Grand Prix qualifying with his seventh of the season and sixteenth of his career pole position. Carlos Sainz made it to the final of qualifying where he helped his partner and exploded him on the straights. The Spaniard showed no time, because due to a penalty he will start from the last row.

Charles Leclerc (1st): “Carlos did a perfect job and helped with the acceleration in the qualifying final, which helped me a lot. Because of this, I played two tenths on the straights of the second sector, which made it easier on the third sector because I knew I had time to spare. Well done Carlos!

Time will tell what awaits us in the race. Our cars are tuned for more downforce, which is better for the tires. On the other hand, the rivals have an advantage on the straight lines. It is difficult to stay behind the other car on this track, so it is crucial to maintain the lead at the start and then check the condition of the rubber.

Interestingly, Red Bull has a different setup this weekend. Tomorrow we will find out which of us was right.”

Carlos Sainz (9th): “Originally we had planned that I would make it to the final of qualifying and help Charles by accelerating on the straights. We even worked out this maneuver in training – in the end we succeeded.

Tomorrow Charles will have to fight Max without my help, but I think he will succeed. We have a fast car and I have no doubt that the team will develop a great strategy.

I’m fast all weekend and had a very good lap in the second part of qualifying. Of course it’s a shame that we didn’t make it to the final, but I’m happy that Charles won the pole position.

This year we received a lot of criticism for the choice of strategy, but today we worked as a team. We have a great atmosphere and each of us tries to help each other as much as possible.