'Slipstreaming was our plan all weekend' reveals Sainz

Carlos Sainz confirmed that Ferrari had always planned to use a slipstream in the final round of qualifying to give Charles Leclerc the best possible chance of taking pole for the French Grand Prix.

Sainz had come into the weekend knowing that he would be starting Sunday's race from the back row as a result of needing new power unit components as a result of his engine fire last time out in Austria.

The grid penalties incurred as a result meant that Sainz had no chance of winning pole for himself - but he could still play a significant role in helping Leclerc do so instead.

• Read also: Leclerc slipstreams to pole over Verstappen in France

Even though Sainz could have sat out most of qualifying in the garage for all it matter to his own starting position, he instead made it all the way through to the final round - even topping the times in Q2.

Then in their first outing in Q3, Sainz positioned himself to provide a tow down the main straight that succeeded in giving provisional pole to Leclerc by 0.008s over Max Verstappen.

The second - and final - run was even better executed and Leclerc duly secured pole position by three tenths over the Red Bull.

"That was the plan all weekend really, to get to Q3 and then give Charles the tow," Sainz told Sky Sports F1 after the end of the session.

"Even without practicing it, I knew more or less how to give a good tow, and everything worked well," he added.

Asked whether he felt he could have clinched pole for himself if not for the engine penalties, Sainz replied: "I think you just need to look at the whole weekend.

"I've been very, very quick," he pointed out. "So it is a bit of a frustrating situation on a weekend that I'm feeling the best and at home with a car.

"“Monaco, Baku, Canada - I was up there fighting for the win," he said of his recent surge in form. "Silverstone I won; Austria on pace I was neck and neck with Charles, and here [too].

"I felt very quick, so it just shows that the progress is paying off and I’m getting there," he noted, adding that it was the “little things” that had made the difference in recent weeks.

"But as I said, I'm happy that Charles scored the pole position and that we're up there as a team."

And he added that it was vindication that the team knew what it was doing and could pull off a team tactic when it came to the crunch.

"I think we've received a lot of critics this year [about] the strategy," he said. "Today just shows that we are very solid team, that we get on very well.

"There's a very good atmosphere and we're willing to help each other as much as possible," he added. "The way the team works I think again proves that it’s working very well and we are working very well together."

Sainz said that the recent criticism of Ferrari's strategy calls was "a bit unfair", adding: "There’s going to be mistakes with tyres, choosing tyres and everything, but I think this year the team has been very solid on the strategy side and I think today proves it.

“It’s nice to see. I think you need to give it to us and to Ferrari that we did a very nice day.”

Despite the "amazing teamwork" as Leclerc himself described it, Sainz now faces the reality of starting from the wrong end of the grid tomorrow, where he won't be on hand to help Leclerc take on the Red Bulls at the start.

"He will have to fight it on his own tomorrow against Max but I believe he can do it," Sainz insisted. "I think if anything it is going to be easier, because I'm not there!

"It's all about nailing the start and nailing the strategy, which I'm sure the team will do well."

As for Sainz himself, a recovery drive to get into the points is very much the order of the day. "It will be difficult to make it through. Also overheating the tyres when following a car in front of you is not easy. Bbut I will try my best.

"I think this car, in every race we go to, is very quick," he said. "I think I've been very quick all weekend and my lap in Q2 proves that.

"It's not easy to make it through the field, it gets to a point where you need a lot of pace delta to overtake, but I’m going to try my best," he said. “It’s been shown this year, Charles [did] in Canada."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter