Toro Rosso rookies star in qualifying to lock out the third row and claim Red Bull junior team's second-best ever two-car grid slot
Tuesday 12 May 2015 14:03, UK
Carlos Sainz has described qualifying fifth for the Spanish GP as “something special”.
Appearing in front of his home support for the first time in his blossoming F1 career, the 20-year-old was arguably the star of the show as he out-qualified a host of leading figures, as well as his much-hyped Toro Rosso team-mate Max Verstappen, to grab fifth.
“It is something special. I am very, very happy, I wasn’t comfortable with the car until qualifying then suddenly run one, everything turned up in the right window where I wanted it and I could build on it to create a very nice qualifying session,” a beaming Sainz told Sky Sports F1.
Sainz, son of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz, already looks a far more polished and accomplished driver than the edgy rookie who drove at Barcelona three months ago in pre-season testing. Both Toro Rossos have run in the top ten all weekend and once again claimed the scalp of ‘big brother’ outfit Red Bull.
“Hard work and analysing, analysing, analysing,” he replied when asked to explain his improvements. “Thanks to all that hard work we suddenly turned on the front tyres that were our limitation and here we are now.”
Sainz has already finished in the points twice this season, in Australia and Malaysia, but the Spaniard is taking nothing for granted despite his heady starting spot for this Sunday’s race.
“Dreaming is free, but P5 will be difficult for us tomorrow,” he added. “Our long runs from Friday didn’t look very promising, but it was a completely different car to what I was driving now. We will try our best for top five, but it is maybe not the most realistic position.”
