Sainz beats Leclerc in Portuguese qualifying: "I feel like I am making progress"
F1 News
Carlos Sainz has qualified in fifth place for the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. The Spaniard is set to start three places ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. It's Sainz's best grid spot since the 2020 Italian Grand Prix and he feels he is making progress in his own driving style at his new team.
"I am satisfied indeed. Particularly with the feeling of the car today. I feel like I am making progress like changing a couple of things with my driving style coming from Imola. A bit of a different approach with braking and corner entry and I have been trying a lot of different step-ups and I feel like we have made progress," Sainz told Sky Sports after qualifying.
"Still a bit of a long way to go and the races are going by and I am feeling a bit more home."
Life at Ferrari
Early in 2020, Sainz knew he had the promotion from McLaren to Ferrari. It's his fourth different team in seven seasons and he has been vocal about the differences between each car. However, Sainz now knows he is settling into the Ferrari car.
"The only time I was conservative was that lap 1 in Bahrain because I really wanted to make the whole race. I didn't know how the car would behave in the dirty air behind ten cars. Then I redeemed myself on one lap in Imola," he added.
"I was pushing quite hard out there. I have been making my mistakes. But the important thing is when I don't make mistakes I am close to where I want to be."