Carlos Sainz says the "really good balance" of his Ferrari SF-23 and the strong confidence it instilled allowed him to achieve one of his best laps ever in qualifying to seal pole for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
Sainz, who has been on top form since the beginning of his Monza weekend, breezed through the first two segments of qualifying, the Spaniard displaying a strong pace that boded well for the final shootout.
In the latter, Sainz's final push, and especially a flawless second sector, put him 0.013s out of reach of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, but firmly in the hearts of the thousands of Tifosi.
"It’s difficult to put into words, to describe the feeling," he admitted when all was said and done.
"It’s just amazing, the whole weekend really, since we arrived here on Wednesday the support and the feeling with the crowd and the energy they put into us. It’s incredible.
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"I had my birthday yesterday also so I enjoyed that and I’m pretty sure it gave me also a good feeling, good vibes and good energy into today.
"I’ve been feeling very comfortable with the car and I put together one of my best laps in Q3 run two to [take] pole."
Ferrari's performance over the summer has been marked by the lack of consistency of the Scuderia's SF-23, not only from one venue to the other but from corner to corner.
But from the outset this weekend, the Italian outfit's machine has offered a very different complexion, according to Sainz, even compared to last weekend at Zandvoort.
"Our efficiency, like we’ve seen in some tracks this year, is pretty good on the car," he explained.
"Honestly, since we put it on track in FP1, it just felt completely different to what it did in Zandvoort.
It’s what it is.
"It’s what we are getting this year – we’re getting some very good weekends and some other very tough ones.
"We just need to make sure in the good ones we try to maximise like we did today and in the tough ones, we learn how to suffer and get the best out of it.
"But, honestly, the car today, I cannot fault it. It was a really, really good balance. It gave me a lot of confidence through Ascari and Parabolica and every sector where I could make the difference when it counted, taking a bit more risks."
Sainz acknowledged that his solid confidence this weekend provided him with an equally robust sense of commitment as he approached every corner at Monza's Temple of Speed.
"I think it’s typical here in Monza you have such a light feeling with a car that you never really are willing, in practice, to take the car to the absolute limit until really Q3 when it counts," he explained.
"I’ve had a few good laps here in the past in Q3. I remember my McLaren days and even last year in Ferrari also I had a really good run around Ascari and Parabolica.
"When you go and remove a bit that fear and you go to take the ultimate risk and today it worked again.
"You just go into that corner that is an incredibly fast corner where the car feels incredibly light and you just hope it grips.
"And it did, like it’s been doing all weekend, that has been giving me that extra confidence and extra feeling to push through there. I had a very good run through there and I could take pole by hundredths.
"I knew it was going to be super, super tight, and all about the details and risks going into the second run, and it was really good fun."
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