Carlos Sainz fumes over MORE Ferrari favouritism in Silverstone qualifying

Carlos Sainz

Sainz fumes over MORE Ferrari favouritism in Silverstone qualifying

The Scuderia failed to live up to their practice pace and were beaten by McLaren as well as Verstappen

Joe Ellis

Saturday 8 July 2023 21:57

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Carlos Sainz has once again expressed frustration with his Ferrari team over what he branded as priority towards his team-mate.

Charles Leclerc ended up qualifying ahead of the Spaniard by just fractions of a second in Q3, although Sainz was more annoyed with the earlier sessions where he was not prioritised despite looking to be in more danger of dropping out.

The Scuderia drivers will start the race fourth and fifth as a result of a stunning day for McLaren, which saw Lando Norris take second and rookie Oscar Piastri third.

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Ferrari did at least beat Mercedes and Fernando Alonso in the battle for second in the constructors' standings, and are favoured to make it onto the podium on Sunday.

Ferrari will have to hope their tyre wear concerns have gone for tomorrow's gruelling race

Sainz: It was ok, in the end

“We had a difficult quali today, he had the priority all the weekend (Leclerc) even though I was the driver at risk, but in the end, everything came out ok," Sainz told Fox Sports MX.

"Tomorrow we’ll have a very fun race, Mercedes were the fastest yesterday in race pace then Red Bull and after them McLaren and us, it will be interesting with the shifting conditions.”

Sainz will need a chaotic race to have any chance of defending his race win from last season, which is still his only F1 victory to date.

With Verstappen out front, Ferrari's main objective should be to beat the chrome and papaya cars ahead of them and consolidate if the Dutchman has cleared off into the distance.