Formula 1 | Ferrari: Sainz did not have the pace of the leading trio in Qatar

Carlos Sainz finished fourth in the Qatar F1 Sprint, but the Ferrari driver could do no better. In front of him, the McLarens and the Mercedes of George Russell were better during this 19-lap race.

“It was tough, especially on the first lap with no grip, I went on the dirty part of the track and I picked up some dust. Once I was in the rhythm, the performance wasn't bad, but they controlled up front and Russell had enough to put Piastri under pressure, and I didn't have what to do.” Sainz said.

Charles Leclerc hoped for better than fifth place, but he had to work hard to overtake Lewis Hamilton after a failed start: “It was very complicated to overtake, the lesson is that qualifying is going to be even more important than we thought. It always is, but I had only one opportunity and I managed to seize it .”

It's a shame that we lost these places at the start because it made the race more difficult for us. The positive is that the performance looks pretty good, now we have to find the performance in qualifying to be ahead tomorrow.”