Sainz expects thrilling race: 'It's going to be a good fight'

Carlos Sainz will have to start the Dutch Grand Prix from third position on Sunday afternoon. Although he has Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc ahead of him, the Spaniard is confident he can rise to the challenge.

According to Sainz, several GPs this season have shown that Ferrari can challenge its rivals in the race. He is referring to the race weekends in Austria and France. "Hopefully, it is more like those two races and we can challenge Max during the whole race," he told on the FIA press conference.

Charles Leclerc's teammate is confident that Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and Mercedes will challenge each other on track. "I think they’re going to be at least as quick as us in the race," he points to the Austrian racing team. "It's going to be a good fight with the other five cars."

Sainz was positively surprised in qualifying that Ferrari were able to set excellent times in Q3, as things were more difficult in the first two sessions. However, Leclerc and Sainz both came up a few hundredths of a second short of keeping Verstappen off pole.

Sainz felt there was more to it

The Ferrari driver stressed that he could have done an even better job, which made him regret his third place on the grid. With Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez behind him, he is expected to have to be very careful at the start of the race.