Carlos Sainz suffered a serious blow with the Ferrari in qualifying, but was sent back to the track

A good scare, a race against the clock by the Ferrari mechanics and a bittersweet ending offered Carlos Sainz the classification for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. After having been involved in a colorful accident during Q2 at the Shanghai International Circuit, the Spaniard managed to return to the track and finish seventh in the final round, in which, as usual, the Dutchman Max Verstappen took pole position.

With just over six minutes left in Q2, Sainz slipped on the gravel in the last corner of the 5,451 meter route, he lost control of his vehicle, did a semi-spin and hit the containment barrier on the main straight. As a result of the incident, red flags were displayed and the session had to be stopped.

Despite the impact, The Madrid driver managed to restart his car and take it to the pits to be repaired.. The supersonic work of the mechanics allowed him to return to the track to achieve a very creditable third best place thanks to his first and only attempt at a fast lap in that segment of the classification. In Q3 he could not repeat the feat and ended up in seventh position.

“It was a good scare, really. but I managed to change the direction in which I was going to crash a little at the last moment. I managed to hit the wall with a good angle that allowed me not to damage the suspension,” explained Sainz, who, in any case, was not entirely satisfied with his performance on Saturday.

“I have managed to make a decent classification. The problem is that we don’t seem to be going very fast this weekend. It is a circuit that is costing us a lot. It had been a while since we had a seventh place finish,” lamented the Spaniard. “Have to work. Tomorrow is not going to be easy, but I hope we do better than a lap,” he added.

Sainz’s car had already suffered damage during the sprint race, which had been held a while before qualifying, after a collision with his compatriot Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), whom the FIA ​​sanctioned with ten seconds and three points of the championship. super license after calling both drivers to testify.

There were conflicting versions between the only two Spanish drivers in the championship: Alonso said that the Madrid native had left him “no place” in a sector of the route and that he had paid him in the same coin, a maneuver that, in Sainz’s opinion, was too “optimistic” and “cost him the race” for both.

Away from the controversies among the Spanish, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completed a perfect day: After winning the sprint race in the first round of activity on Saturday in Shanghai, he also took pole position and on Sunday the fifth competition of the season will begin from first place.

The championship leader completed his best lap of the day in 1:33.660, surpassing his teammate, the Mexican Sergio Pérez, by 322 thousandths, obtaining his fifth pole position of the year in as many races and signing the 100th in the history of Red Bull, precisely on the same circuit where the German Sebastian Vettel had achieved the first for the team in 2009.

“It is an incredible achievement for the entire team, it is incredible”, celebrated the three-time world champion. “The car is working very well and I am having a very good start to the year, with a lot of confidence. It is a shame that we had to abandon in Melbourne (at the Australian Grand Prix), because we could have a very powerful advantage,” he added.

For Pérez, second place ended up being a huge prize after a difficult day. “It was a very intense qualifying, I almost missed out in Q1. In the end I was saved after a very difficult start. We were able to progress during the session. Tomorrow we will be able to attack from where we are and we can aspire to a good result for the team,” highlighted the Mexican.

Third place was held by Fernando Alonso, who was able to vindicate himself after the incident with Sainz in the sprint race. “We are not yet in the place we want, but we keep trying,” said the Asturian, who appreciated that his Aston Martin had improved thanks to the configuration changes aimed at solving balance problems.

When asked about the sanction that the FIA ​​had imposed a while before for the contact with Sainz, Alonso limited himself to indicating that he did not agree with the resolution, but recognized that the organization had “the power to do what it believes is right.” ”, so I had to “accept it and move on.”