The Sao Paulo race weekend is half complete, with only the Sprint race and full Grand Prix remaining on the schedule. Max Verstappen holds pole for the Grand Prix, joined by Charles Leclerc on the front row. Leclerc’s form on Friday did not extend into the Saturday sprint shootout, however, as Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz qualified only 7th and 9th, respectively, for the short race.

Ferrari opted to run scrubbed tyres in the shootout and saved the newer tyres for later that weekend. When asked by Sky Sports F1 about the shootout, Charles Leclerc did not divulge where he would be using his only set of new soft tyres. Carlos Sainz, however, revealed that Ferrari was saving the newer tyres for the race rather than the Sprint, which is especially significant for Leclerc as he starts on the front row. 

For the softs, we’ve decided to save the newer sets for the race and we decided to sacrifice the sprint quali and the sprint to hopefully have a better race on Sunday

Carlos Sainz told Sky Sports F1

The Monegasque driver is also the only Ferrari driver with a new set of softs, so rival teams will note the strategy the Scuderia are going for. Carlos Sainz seemed unfazed by giving out the plans for the new softs, which will certainly be a surprise for the Italian squad.

Charles just catching himself before he spoils the strategy secrets, only for Carlos to just plainly state it ?

?: @SkySportsF1 via f1mediafan#F1 #BrazilianGP #BrazilGPpic.twitter.com/wFz4mUILFG

— MultiViewer (@f1multiviewer) November 4, 2023

Ferrari is currently engaged in a tight battle for second in the constructors’ championship and will be looking to get a good haul of points over the weekend to inch closer to Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz regrets Ferrari’s strategy for Brazil GP Qualifying

Ferrari had a contrasting outing at Q3 in the Friday Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as Leclerc starts an outstanding second on the grid beside Max Verstappen. Still, Carlos Sainz could only manage 8th in mixed conditions.

Sainz attributed the lack of pace in his lap to an error by the Italian squad, as they sent the 28-year-old out too late to set an optimal lap time, leaving him with cold tyres under dark, stormy conditions. Sainz was disappointed, as the pace in Q2 seemed like he could have achieved a better result. 

We were one of the last cars to leave the pits, with the cold tyres and the temperature dropping and the rain coming and the gust of wind. We were just unlucky today because the pace in Q2 wasn’t too bad and, yeah, a bit disappointed obviously because we were very late to go out

Carlos Sainz as reported by essentiallysports.com

Carlos Sainz will look to make up positions in the race, especially beyond Fernando Alonso, as the two Spanish drivers battle for 4th place in the championship. Sainz recently dropped Alonso down to 5th, and Alonso will be trying to reclaim the position in the standings, starting 4th on the grid for Sunday. 

In case you missed it:

• Lando Norris laments missed pole position at Brazil, insists he ‘was fast enough’ to start up front on Sunday
• Mika Hakkinen names the two drivers who could stop Max Verstappen from winning the Brazilian GP

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