F1 Rookie Zhou Guanyu’s Latest Accomplishment a Thorn in Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari F1 Run

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are now the only teammates upholding a record in the current season. The record is out qualifying your teammate, which Sainz has not done in this season so far. Although the Spaniard would not want to be associated with this stat any longer, he, however, will have to wait for another Grand Prix weekend, regardless.

Zhou Guanyu was the only other driver who hadn’t managed a better qualifying result than his teammate. But he did so in Baku. The Alfa Romeo rookie out qualified veteran Valtteri Bottas in Q2 will start the race right at P14. This leaves Carlos Sainz as the only driver on the grid who hasn’t managed a better qualifying than his teammate.

However, Charles Leclerc’s qualifying consistency in the current season has been otherworldly. The Ferrari man has started all but two races on pole, and in the remaining two he’s stared on the front row. This goes to show the competition in the Ferrari camp. No wonder Sainz is struggling against Leclerc’s impeccable qualifying result.

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This was a good qualifying for Guanyu as he took advantage of Bottas’s poor weekend to qualify ahead of the Finn. Bottas was almost knocked out of Q1, which would’ve been his first in 142 races. However, the Alfa Romeo man escaped Q1 at P15, a result he could not improve upon because of a yellow flag. This was Finn’s worst qualifying result since Monaco 2015, where he started at P17.

Carlos Sainz couldn’t improve his time as Leclerc grabs another pole position

Sainz, on the first flying lap of Q3, grabbed the provisional pole, which reminded the case almost until the very end of the session. In the final flying lap, Leclerc outshone Sainz yet again to grab his sixth pole of the season. This means Sainz will have to wait for at least one more race to claim the first P1 start of his career.

“It’s a pity… but at the same time we’ve made some progress throughout the day,” Sainz said.

“I was feeling in contention for pole and after the last couple of races, especially prior to Monaco, I wasn’t, so good progress.

“It’s what happens when you push to the limit – sometimes you take P1 and sometimes you overstep it. But, still everything to play for tomorrow. 

“Starting position here doesn’t matter too much, so we’re going to push.”

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Sainz’s last lap wasn’t one he could be proud of, which cost him the pole and the front row. Clearly, Sainz wasn’t happy on the radio while getting the update on his starting position for the race.