Carlos Sainz delivered a surprising performance in Las Vegas by driving his Williams to the third fastest time in a rain-soaked qualifying session. While the rain turned the session into a lottery and teammate Alex Albon crashed hard into the wall, Sainz kept his cool.
However, earlier in the day, things did not look so promising for the British racing team. “In the wet third free practice, it didn’t look promising,” Sainz admits. The team, however, worked hard to optimize the setup for the qualifying session.
“I’m always optimistic,” the Spaniard explains after his feat. “This circuit suits our car, at least, on a dry track.” Sainz felt fast on the wet tyres, but was apprehensive about the final phase. “On the intermediate tyre, I expected the rest to catch up with me. But I’m happy with P3.”
Sainz’s performance was met with loud cheers from the American audience. “This feels a bit like Austin,” Sainz beams. “I think they love the underdog in America. Of course, I would have preferred to give them a pole position, then they would have cheered even louder!”
