Carlos Sainz Jr. has ‘good hope’ after P2 in F1 Sprint at United States Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz Jr. has ‘good hope’ after P2 in F1 Sprint at United States Grand Prix

AUSTIN — Ferrari arrived in Austin for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix unsure of where they might stand in the pecking order. Recent upgrades to the SF-24 produced strong results at Monza and Azerbaijan, but speaking with the media on Thursday Charles Leclerc wondered aloud whether those would be track-specific results, or carry over to the Circuit of the Americas.

Through three sessions on track, there has to be growing confidence in a good result for Ferrari here in Austin.

Leclerc finished the F1 Sprint race in P4, with Carlos Sainz Jr. able to overtake Lando Norris at Turn 1 on the final lap, putting him in position for a P2 finish.

Speaking in the FIA Press Conference after the F1 Sprint Race, in response to a question from Salil Kapur from NBC News, Sainz noted that the good result gives him “good hope” for the rest of the season.

“The rest of this year, it gives me a good hope,” began Sainz.

However, the Ferrari driver noted that if wants to deliver a win here in Austin on Sunday, qualifying later today will be critical.

“I think now we need to focus on qualifying. I think qualifying is a very important part of the week, and now where our car recently seems to be racing a bit better than than qualifying,” began Sainz. “And now we need to see if we can qualify.”

Sainz set a goal for later today: The top three. In his estimation, starting in one of the top three spots gives you a fighting chance at a win on Sunday.

“I think top three gives you a good chance going into Sunday here, and you can overtake,” said Sainz. “It’s normally a race with a lot of pit stops, with a lot of overtaking. So, yeah, I think at least for here, to get ourselves into contention on Sunday, you need to be further ahead from where I was today.”