Carlos Sainz has set his sights on winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he admitted that it will be his “last chance for a few years” in Formula 1 once he leaves Ferrari.
Sainz bagged third on the grid at the Yas Marina Circuit as he was powerless to rival the two McLarens as Lando Norris headed a front-row lockout over Oscar Piastri.
McLaren dominated proceedings throughout practice, but Sainz emerged as a genuine contender when he topped the timesheets in Q1 and then replicated that in Q2.
However, McLaren’s MCL38 came alive in the last session as Norris charged to pole position with a two-tenth gap to Piastri, leaving Sainz to settle for the second row.
“I felt like I did some very good, very clean laps in Q1 and Q2,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week.
“Probably finding the limit of the car very early on in qualifying and then giving myself and giving maybe the team a bit of hope that we could fight for pole position.
“But I think as soon as these two guys started putting, I think, a good lap together in Q3… I think my lap was pretty good.
“Obviously, there’s always little things here and there that you would like to change.
“But when Lando talks about that he didn’t quite nail Turn 9 or he did a small mistake, then you realise that it’s the same for everyone.
“We’ve been a weekend three to four-tenths behind. I’ll take being two-tenths off in quali and hopefully we can match their race pace and get in the fight tomorrow.”
Ferrari has an uphill task to take title
Ferrari’s strive to overturn its 21-point gap to McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship has become even tougher as Charles Leclerc will line-up down in 19th place.
Leclerc was guaranteed to drop 10 places amid an energy store change, but his woes were compounded as a track limits violaiton at Turn 1 saw him eliminated in Q2.
“I think it was already extremely difficult,” Sainz accepted. “It was, like I said, a bit of a mission impossible already before the weekend started.
“Then we arrived to FP1 and Charles’ battery died before running and the grid penalty obviously was a huge shock, a huge blow.
“On top of that, you get the Q2 situation for Charles. It just makes things obviously a lot more difficult.
“But at the same time, It is very likely that even in a perfect weekend where we both nail laps in Q3 and we even fight for the win, these two guys are still up there.
“So it was always going to be difficult. It’s just made our life even more difficult.
“But until the chequered flag comes down tomorrow, you know, anything can happen. And I’m going to keep fighting for whatever comes.
“I’m sure Charles from the back will push flat out to get every single point available and see what happens with the McLarens.”
Sainz targeting win on Ferrari swansong
With his team-mate not in contention, Sainz has acknowledged that the onus will be on him to mount the challenge to McLaren to boost Ferrari’s dwinding title hopes.
But he’s also expressed that he wants to secure the win on his final Ferrari outing as his impending venture with Williams won’t give him that chance in the short term.
Asked whether he would take third in the race, Sainz replied: “No, I wouldn’t sign up for a P3 because I know we’re capable of more and I also have a bit less to lose tomorrow.
“We know we need to do more than what we did today and we’re going to go for it tomorrow, because, one, we need it for the Constructors’.
“If we want to have a shot at winning, we need to win tomorrow and one of the McLarens to have an issue and Charles to get back in the points.
“And two, I also want to win. This might be my last chance at winning in a few years and my last chance of being on a podium for a few years.
“I want to make sure I leave the weekend with no regrets and with never feeling that I could have, yeah, not given myself that chance.
“So, yeah, I feel like I’ve put myself in a good position for tomorrow. But yeah, tomorrow we go again.”
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