Sainz targets top six finish after strong qualifying

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After a number of tough races for Toro Rosso, the team was looking back on form in qualifying at Singapore on Saturday which saw Carlos Sainz claim sixth position on the grid just one place ahead of his team mate Daniil Kvyat.

Sainz said that this reflected the team's true capabilities, and that the task now was to make sure he finished tomorrow's race in at least as high a position.

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"Very pleased," he said afterwards. "I think after so many tough races it was time to go back to where we belong, where I think I belong.

"Finally to be fighting for the top six nearly half a second clear of the Force India, is to be very, very, very happy and I can be pleased with the performance this weekend.

"I think it's time to focus on tomorrow - be very happy for what we have accomplished today, but knowing that tomorrow is an important day for the team,: he continued. "It's a race we have to do our best, we have to make sure we bring the two cars home tomorrow.

"If we bring them home and we do the right strategy we should be where we are at the moment because our race pace is actually as good as our qualifying pace.

Sainz was helped into the top six by the absence of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in Q3. Vettel had been eliminated at the end of the first round after suffering a suspension problem and will now be starting from the back.

Sainz admitted that he was was wary about what the Ferrari could still manage to achieve despite that setback.

"Let's see if Sebastian recovers - hopefully not as much to overtake us, but you know the top teams have such an advantage on us that it's very simple for them to come through.

"Hopefully there's some opposition behind and if not that top six we are looking forward tomorrow to hold it."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.