"We are in trouble" if rain falls during Belgian Grand Prix - Sainz
"We are in trouble" if rain falls during Belgian Grand Prix - Sainz
Carlos Sainz Jr. is convinced McLaren will be "in trouble" if it rains during the Belgian Grand Prix as both MCL35's are on very low-downforce set-ups.
Wet conditions massively favour the cars with high-downforce set-ups as grip is very hard to come by and straight-line speed is significantly reduced.
After qualifying, Sainz revealed that both he and team-mate Lando Norris opted not to run a rain-friendly set-up as it hurt their pace in the dry.
"If there’s one race where maybe I don’t like the rain so much it’s here because we’ve elected our super low-downforce set-up," Sainz told Sky Sports F1.
"So [we're] expecting it not to rain. We saw 50% chance, we tried higher downforce here this weekend and on our car it was not working. We were just too draggy and we couldn’t make the high-downforce work.
"In order to qualify well we decided to go super low [downforce]. If it rains tomorrow… we are in trouble! But at least we try."
The Spaniard will start from seventh place at Spa Francorchamps, three places in front of Norris in P10, but expects to be doing more defending than attacking on Sunday.
He added: "All the cars we have in front are quicker I think both in race-pace and in qualifying. “The Reanults have been, to us, three tenths ahead all weekend. They look to be very competitive in a low-downforce package which is the same as last year. In Monza and Spa they seemed to be very competitive so it will be difficult for us to beat them.
“I’m surprised to qualify ahead of the Racing Points and I’m pretty sure they will put on a pretty big fight tomorrow, but at least we are there in the middle of the fight."
Before you go...
Hamilton dedicates stunning pole lap to Black Panther star
Verstappen reveals qualifying agony after running out of battery
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Newey set to announce STUNNING Red Bull departure
- 3 hours ago
Newey Red Bull exit wish CONFIRMED as F1 guru's reasons revealed
- 42 minutes ago
F1 legend reveals 'FLOOD' of death threats after controversial decision
- 1 hour ago
Adrian Newey: The life and career of Red Bull's departing genius
- 2 hours ago
Sky Sports F1 pundit dumbfounded by key Ferrari decision
- 2 hours ago
- 2
Talented young F1 prodigy set to make series DEBUT
- Today 16:57
Related news
Sainz manager speaks out on 'game playing' over contract
Big name driver 'very angry internally' after controversial battle
Horner fears F1 rival could POACH star driver from Red Bull
Sainz SNUBS potential F1 suitors in thinly-veiled swipe
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860