MEXICO CITY – Outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz could not help but feel mixed emotions as he claimed pole as the team’s surge of form continued in Mexico.
Sainz, who will make way for Lewis Hamilton next year, turned in two stunning Q3 laps to beat Max Verstappen by 0.2s for his sixth F1 career pole.
Ferrari has emerged as a constructors’ championship contender lately, with Charles Leclerc winning the Italian Grand Prix in September and leading a one-two in Austin last week.
Sainz said that new reality made it a difficult feeling to process.
Asked how sweet it felt to potentially sign off his Ferrari tenure on a high, Sainz said: “Very sweet, given how good the car is, how well I’m driving recently, it is very optimistic going into the last five races.
“At the same time [it is] bittersweet because it gives me the feeling that Ferrari might be in the fight for the world championship next year and I won’t be there to use it. I feel like I have been quite a big part of this team during the four years trying to prepare the team to fight for that championship next year, you know?
“The fact that I’m driving well, being fast with the car, and I’m leaving in five races, leaves me a bit… I don’t know how to say it, but not with a very good feeling. But it is what it is.
“I’m going to try and win more races, stand on the podium for as long as I can for these five races, enjoy that, and then we will think about next year.”
Ferrari are third in the constructors’ championship 48 points behind leaders McLaren, with Red Bull only ahead by eight points.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris start between Sainz and his teammate Charles Leclerc, but are locked into a fight in F1’s other championship, the drivers’ title race.
Sainz hopes that battle might help him consoliate his lead down the long run to Turn 1.
“Relatively confident because I know my race pace should be good tomorrow. Probably the biggest difficult thing will be the run down into Turn 1 and starting pole with the slipstream. I think you can still defend, you can still make it stick into Turn 1, starting pole, and that will be my goal tomorrow.
“I just need to make sure I do a good zero to 100, which is the most important thing when you start on pole, just make sure you do a good jump. From there, obviously do the best I can to defend. I have two guys behind fighting for quite important things tomorrow and the run down to Turn 1 should be interesting. I have obviously less to lose in that sense and I will try and make sure I keep P1.”