Carlos Sainz: Qualifying in Miami is like a lottery

In Miami, Carlos Sainz starts third and hopes to compete for the podium…

Question: Carlos, how do you assess the results of the qualification?
Carlos Sainz: Everything went well. We have made some progress since Friday. I felt the car better and was able to attack more actively.

But you know, qualifying for Miami is like a lottery. It is very difficult to drive a clear lap here. You always end it with the feeling that you could have gone two or three tenths faster, but you never succeed – on the next lap you make another small mistake and lose the same two tenths.

All the riders are a bit angry that it is incredibly difficult to complete a lap here, but overall I am happy with my result. As the weekend progressed I made progress and am in a good position at the start of the race.

Q: Are you hoping to force a fight on Max?
Carlos Sainz: When Max starts at the front, it’s hard to find a way to stay ahead of him. But we start behind him with two cars, and this always increases the chances. If you look at the statistics of the last races, it is difficult to beat him, but we will do our best.

Question: The race strategy may differ from last year?
Carlos Sainz: No Unfortunately. The tire compounds are too conservative for this Grand Prix. I think it was possible to use softer compositions and thereby diversify the strategy a bit. So I don’t expect any major differences compared to last year.

Question: Are you hoping to attack Max on the first turn?
Carlos Sainz: Anything can happen, although in recent years he usually takes the lead at the start. The differences that used to exist are no longer there. Everyone starts out more or less the same, and then it’s hard to change anything.

Question: In the sprint you got stuck behind Ricciardo, making overtaking difficult. Have you found a solution between the sprint and qualifying that allows you to overtake more actively in the race?
Carlos Sainz: Unfortunately not. It’s always a compromise when it comes to the choice of downforce, drivetrain settings, etc. Daniel’s Honda-powered car this weekend accelerates well out of slow corners, making it impossible to overtake them.

I suffered a lot from an error in qualifying for the sprint, which meant I started behind Daniel. When you compromise on the settings, you don’t expect to start behind the RB car. But in the race we will start from more known positions and we will fight with those who have a similar level of downforce and a similar maximum speed as us, which should help.

Question: How do you assess the popularity of Formula 1 in the US, what has changed since you started your career?
Carlos Sainz: It’s great that the popularity of our sport is growing in the US. But this is not the only place where this happens. I am very impressed with China. After five years away from China, the difference was incredible. The number of fans and their involvement have increased by an order of magnitude. Yes, it’s not always comfortable, but that’s the price you have to pay for its growing popularity, so there’s no problem.