If Carlos Sainz‘s major goal in the previous F1 season was to challenge Red Bull and give his teammate Charles Leclerc some substance and competition, his 2023 season is only a letdown by comparison. With just a best finish of fourth place in the Azerbaijan GP, the Spanish driver’s main goal this year is to somehow rediscover his rhythm. And he seemed to have done it! In the first practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver posted the best lap time of 1.13.372- 0.338s quicker than his idol, Fernando Alonso. However, his positive start came to a crashing end in FP2.

Just like FP1, Sainz comfortably led a great deal of the second hour-long run as the head of the order on hard tires. But after he went to the pits for softs with a time of 1m 12.569s, a three-way battle between the two Ferrari drivers and reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen began. However, with just 15 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz clipped the barriers at turn 15, the same corner he narrowly missed in the first session. As a result, he was suspended from P2, damaging the momentum he built so far in the race. 

While reflecting on his day post-FP2, Sainz was apologetic to Ferrari for hitting the wall and, as per Speedcafe, said, “It was a very small crash. I just clipped the wall on the inside of (Turn) 16 – a typical Monaco miscalculation. Sorry to the team and the mechanics for the extra work. Obviously, it was not ideal to finish the session in that way after a small miscalculation trying to find the limit.”

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Sainz, however, is still confident about Ferrari’s results in Saturday’s qualifying. 

Mixed views from Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc post-Friday session 

Monaco is not Red Bull’s strongest circuit, despite their dominant performance this season, winning all five races with four one-twos. Why? Although Red Bull is still the fastest, their front tire warm-up disadvantage in the unique Monaco track might open the door for its rivals to win on merit. Therefore, after a very interesting Friday practice, Sainz still feels that he is in the mix for what is undoubtedly a crucial pole position.

Sainz, who finished FP2 0.107s behind Verstappen in P3, later said: “In terms of confidence, in terms of lap time, I’ve been on it all day, and just a small miscalculation in one corner is not going to affect it. We’re on the right track to at least challenge for it (pole position). The Red Bull is still quick, they are still leading. But we’re closer than any other weekend, and we’re hoping we can at least give them a run for their money.”

On the other hand, his teammate Leclerc was not as positive. After playing catch-up with his team-mate, the Monégasque described his day as “difficult” due to a car that “is not doing exactly what it is supposed to do.”

He added: “We need to take a good look at the set-up on my car and then work on it to ensure I have the right feeling with it (for qualifying). Here it’s all about qualifying. We didn’t do any race runs, just focusing on preparing for qualifying in the best way possible.”

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Leclerc finished Friday’s practice in P2 and only 0.065s behind Verstappen. On Saturday, the home hero will be chasing his third successive Monaco pole position.