Sainz "very angry" As McLaren F1 issue saps Bahrain GP hopes

Carlos Sainz Jr said he was “very angry” that his hopes of qualifying and racing at the Bahrain Grand Prix were destroyed by a car breakdown.

The Spaniard had looked for a good performance in Sakhir on the right track but was ruled out of qualifying early in Q2 when his rear tires got stuck and sent him into a spin on the first corner.

In addition to this failure leaving him in 15th place on the grid, the lock-up effectively robbed him of a set of tires – which will limit his strategic opportunities in the race.

“It leaves us very few options if we lost it [the set of tyres] with this closure, “Sainz told Movistar.” That leaves us with very little options for Sunday. This is why I am very angry, I am sorry, but I am very angry. “

Aside from being limited on his own tires, Sainz says that the fact that all Q3 riders will start on the middle compound means there is little chance of winning early in the race by doing anything different.

“Yes, you can come back, but it gets very complicated,” he explained. “Mainly because the top 10 is going to start with the midrange, and those of us who start behind will have no advantage over them.

“The two midrange sets that I had saved, one will be ruined and I’m sure I can’t even use it. Which puts me in a bit of a tough spot for the race. We worked hard for it. save harder tires for racing. racing and now it’s happening to us. “

McLaren did not have an immediate answer as to what went wrong with Sainz’s car, and whether it was related to the brakes, transmission or engine.

Team principal Andreas Seidl said: “We still don’t know, honestly we have to analyze it. I think the rear axle got stuck and there was nothing Carlos could do.

“It’s disappointing because we had a competition car today. Unfortunately Lando made a small mistake in turn 1 on his last attempt and Carlos was in good shape all weekend and that’s a shame.

“But that’s all there is and now it’s time to analyze what happened in Carlos’ car, reset and start again tomorrow. It will be an interesting race, with many challenges, with two or more stops and we have to try to come back. “

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