Sainz did not expect time penalty from FIA: 'I had no choice'
F1 News
Carlos Sainz was fastest during qualifying for the Italian GP. The Spaniard beat his teammate Charles Leclerc, but was also ahead of Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen with his pole position time. He did have a penalty hanging over his head during the session, but Sainz was apparently not worried about that.
Sainz was not worried
On the Monza circuit, drivers prefer to go out as late as possible in a qualifying session. They are looking for the optimum track conditions, trying to take advantage of a slipstream at the predecessor and, conversely, break the slipstream at the cars behind them. Sainz and Leclerc found themselves in that rush in Q1 and got off the throttle considerably. The two Ferrari drivers were investigated by the FIA for driving too slow. The penalty remained hanging over the team during the session.
Sainz, meanwhile, remained comfortable in the car. Speaking to the press after Saturday, the Spaniard said, "I'm not very worried about that because I had to slow down so much to not impede other cars that were on fastest laps that it was almost impossible to respect the delta that the race director put on us because if I would have respected it, I would have impeded my competitors so I just played it safe. I prefer to not impede anyone and even if I was, I think, one or two seconds off the delta, I think that's safer than actually impeding someone."
The SF23 is efficient at Monza
That Sainz went for pole position was, compared to the race before, remarkable. The SF23 was particularly fast at Monza. Asked what were the strengths of the Ferrari this weekend, Sainz said, "I guess our efficiency, like we've seen in some tracks this year, is pretty good. The car, honestly, since we put it on track on FP1, felt completely different to what it did in Zandvoort. It’s what we’re getting this year. We're getting some very good weekends and some other very tough ones."