The previous winner of the Singapore GP had to bow out early in Q3 on Saturday. With just eight minutes left on the clock, Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari into the wall. The Spaniard regrets a ‘strange’ incident, which highlighted the dangers of driving a qualifying round on cold tyres. With teammate Charles Leclerc ahead of him, Sainz will start from the tenth position on Sunday.
“It was a very strange incident,” Carlos Sainz responded afterwards. “I had to let a few cars pass in the last sector, and I think my tyres cooled down very quickly as a result. Then I wanted to accelerate, but I greatly overestimated the amount of grip.” In turn seventeen, the red car spun out – end of the line for Sainz, who had to settle for P10.
“In Q3, you don’t want it to come down to hundredths or thousandths, so I went all in,” sighed Carlos Sainz. “It is what it is, and we learn from it. It was perhaps a bit of a strange incident, but it shows how risky it is to drive here on cold tyres. We’ll come back stronger tomorrow.”
Potential Fine Looms
Since the incident occurred at the end of the circuit, Sainz was able to walk back to the pit lane on his own. However, the FIA was not entirely pleased with this. The Ferrari driver was summoned to the stewards after the race because he crossed the track on foot while vehicles were recovering his car.
The incident was similar to one that occurred during last year’s Qatar Grand Prix, when Lewis Hamilton also crossed the track himself. The former world champion was then fined 50,000 euros. Half of this amount was charged immediately, while the other half was suspended, unless he committed another violation later in the season.
Carlos Sainz made a quick exit after a crash in Q3. His compatriot Fernando Alonso watched from his Aston Martin.
