Sainz rues dirty air for disappointing qualifying result on home soil at Barcelona
Having looked competitive through the practice sessions, Williams driver Carlos Sainz suffered a shock exit in the first qualifying segment which left him in P18 on the grid for his home race.
Williams did not expect this track to suit them, but they showed a relatively strong pace through the practice sessions. However, Sainz endured a hard time of it, exiting in Q1 for the first time in 18 months and at his home race to boot.
Explaining his issues in qualifying, the Madrid-born driver was left to rue traffic and dirty air on his final push lap in Q3 which proved decisive in a field which is only separated by thousands of a second in qualifying.
"Very disappointing day. After our struggles yesterday we made some good changes overnight that put us in contention for a good result.
“Unfortunately, the delay in the pit lane due to an issue of the Alpine meant I was out of position for my second push in Q1 and had to overtake five or six cars during my lap.
Sainz continued: "With such a tight field, having that amount of dirty air made me lose valuable tenths and that put a premature ending to my session in Q1, which is not good.
"I’ll do my best to fight through the field tomorrow and give my home crowd something to cheer for. Let’s see what we can do," concluded the Spaniard.
