Carlos Sainz: “We made unnecessary mistakes, because there was zero pressure. It makes me angry, because I was going very fast in qualifying”

Carlos Sainz achieved the Q2 goal in the F1 2026 Singapore GP classification with a Williams with which I thought I was going to suffer more on a route like that of Marina Baybut he believes he could have removed even more from his car if it weren’t for a team error, which caused him to take too long on the track unnecessarily at the end of that Q2and due to a block by Nico Hülkenberg, which made him abort his final turn.

Carlos finished 14th, although He gained one place (13th) due to the penalty that George Russell receives for changing various elements of your engine. And furthermore, he considered that he could gain another position if the FIA ​​decides to sanction Nico Hülkengerg. If that holds true, he would start 12th, close to points that just two days ago seemed almost impossible.

“We have made many mistakes as a team. In that last lap they took me out very late and we were in a very hurry for the flag, unnecessarily, because there was all the time in the world. And then, on top of that, I think our software told us that I caught the checkered flag when in fact I didn’t catch it. Even so, he was going back, because I had seen that he had not taken the flag,” he explained..

“And, nothing, Nico (Hülkenberg) blocked me in turn 5, so a lot of mistakes on our part. And then, on top of that, also the incident with Nico, which, unfortunately, cost us the fact of being able to continue driving,” commented Carlos Sainz on ‘DAZN’ after qualifying for the F1 2026 Singapore GP.

“We made unnecessary mistakes. Because there was zero pressurewe had the whole track to ourselves there at the end and I don’t know why we braked so hard unnecessarily. But hey, it’s something that the team has to analyze, because clearly today it was difficult for us to see what the car was capable of doing at the end of Q2,” he added on ‘ESPN’.

“It makes me angry, because today in qualifying I was going very fast. I did some very good laps in Q1, faster than we expected. Then I did some very good laps in Q2, beating cars that we thought we weren’t going to beat,” he said.

“Therefore, I think that in this classification we could have gotten a little more out of it by doing things a little better as a team. And it makes me a little angry, because the truth is that I’m good at Singapore and today it was going very fast. But hey, what are you going to do? Tomorrow we will start from 13th, 12th if Nico is penalized, then we will still gain position. And if so, we will try to score tomorrow,” he said.

“I did a very good lap at the beginning of Q2, which was going to be difficult to beat. But obviously at the end of Q2 the track is faster and I couldn’t make the lap due to several factors. So it is something to analyze as a team, because we have not given ourselves the opportunity to demonstrate what we were capable of doing,” he concluded in front of television.