Sainz stunned by crash 'not on the limit'

Carlos Sainz has insisted he was not pushing his Ferrari "to the limit" when crashing out of qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Scuderia looked set to take a one-two on the grid for Saturday's sprint with Sainz and Charles Leclerc dominant in the sole practice session before the Spaniard's error in Q2.

Sainz was pushing to get a lap in before rain fell in the second session when losing the rear at Rivazza, hitting the barriers and causing damage to the left-hand side of his F1-75.

Asked what happened to cause the incident, Sainz replied: "It is difficult for me to tell you because honestly, I did a mistake that I wasn't even expecting at all.

"It was a lap where I wasn't even pushing that hard, I just knew that I needed to put a banker in to react to the rain that was coming, but it was not a lap that was properly on the limit at all.

"It was a lap that was okay, just to put a banker in, without being near the limit and unfortunately I lost the car.

"For some reason, I had no warning I was going to lose it and it just went. Tricky conditions for sure but not ideal."

Speculating on the possible causes, Sainz added: "I think I lost the rear entering the last corner.

"Maybe it was starting to rain, maybe it was the tyres were too hot after doing two consecutive push laps.

"I need to understand it because I don't think I was exposing myself to a mistake pushing like that."

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