Sainz Jr delighted with Q3 spot as Verstappen rues mistake

Carlos Sainz Jr drew first blood in his Toro Rosso all-rookie battle with Max Verstappen as the Spaniard qualified eighth for the Australian Grand Prix, four places ahead of his team-mate.

Both drivers are making their Formula One debuts in the STR10 this weekend, with the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion having the upper hand over the European F3 graduate so far. Toro Rosso even came very close to upsetting sister team Red Bull since Sainz Jr only finished less than a couple of tenths behind seventh-placed Daniel Ricciardo.

“I’m very happy, it feels great to be starting my first ever Formula 1 race from P8 on the grid tomorrow!” Sainz Jr said. “It was quite a smooth qualifying session apart from Q1, where I made a small mistake, but I didn’t let that affect me and from then onwards everything went really well. I just kept focused and tuned the car to my liking to extract its full potential.

“I feel very comfortable in the car, I’m really enjoying myself a lot. It’s difficult to know what to expect tomorrow, as it will be my first race, but I’m looking forward to it.  It will surely be a bit of an adventure but this is what I’ve been preparing myself for the whole winter an I feel ready.”

Team-mate Verstappen was also on course to enter Saturday’s qualifying top-ten shootout but the 17-year-old was denied a maiden Q3 appearance when he made a mistake on his final flying lap.

“I felt good in the car from the start and did a good Q1,” said Verstappen. “The first run in Q2 was reasonable, even though I had something stuck in my back so my shoulder hurt a bit. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good lap because the tyres were not ready.

“During the second push-lap, I made a mistake out of Turn 4, where I went a bit too wide and lost the rear, losing quite a lot of time. It’s a shame but I can’t change any of this now. I look forward to tomorrow, my first ever Formula 1 race. The car is working well and hopefully we will be able to score some points as we have a good race pace.”

Despite his error, Verstappen was still able to outqualify new Red Bull recruit Daniil Kvyat, whom he has replaced at Toro Rosso over the winter.

Click here for Saturday's gallery from the Australian Grand Prix

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

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Sad Colapinto laments two crashes in one day in Sao Paulo

Williams suffered a bruising time on Sunday in Sao Paulo, with Alex Albon unable to…

30 mins ago

McLaren: No regrets over timing of Norris pit stop in Sao Paulo GP

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about their…

2 hours ago

Williams' Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…

3 hours ago

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

4 hours ago

Sainz left puzzled by double crash drama in rainy São Paulo

Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…

5 hours ago

Alonso pushed through agonizing pain to complete Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…

6 hours ago