Carlos Sainz says he “risked a lot” on his final lap in Q3 as he leapt to an impressive third place for the start of Sunday’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver pipped Racing Point’s Sergio Perez to the leading spot on the second row on the grid, taking his second third-place qualifying result of the season.
Sainz says he was working throughout the session at chipping down his lap time and knew that a top five result was on the cards.
However, he almost threw it away in Q3 after having a “big moment” at the first Lesmo corner.
“Honestly, I’ve been feeling very strong since the start of qualifying,” Sainz said.
“I managed to get through to Q2 on one set. Since then, I was trying to put that [1 minute] 19.6s on the board.
“I knew that would give me top 5 so I was chipping away, [on the] last lap, I nearly messed up, I had a big moment at Lesmo one.”
The Spaniard highlighted that he pushed hard into the high-speed Parabolica and Ascari corners, which left him shaking at the end of the session.
“I nearly lost it and since then on I had to drive like this and I am actually shaking a bit because at Parabolica and Ascari I had to really go for it,” Sainz admitted.
“I felt like I was nailing Q1 and Q2 [but] Q3… run one, I didn’t quite nail it and I was waiting for Q3 run two.
“The lap didn’t start very well and I was needing a strong few final corners. I really went for it, I risked a lot and it paid off.
“As you can see after after the dive I did into Ascari I was like ‘whoa that was way too late’.”
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