Carlos Sainz admits he made a misjudgement which led to him hitting the Wall of Champions during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Toro Rosso driver hit the wall with his right rear tyre at the end of his first attempt in Q2, with the front of the car then also making contact as he slid down the grass before stopping just beyond the finish line. Explaining the incident, Sainz says he was taking a lot of risks during the lap but didn't realise his rear tyre was so close to the wall.
“To sum up a bit what went through my mind in that qualifying, obviously we were very strong in P3 and immediately when I started putting laps in Q1 I saw that we were a bit far off," Sainz said. "A bit like we expected because we knew in qualifying that the Mercedes-engined teams were going to do a step but I was feeling a bit gutted.
"We were pretty comfortable to be in Q3 in P3 and now in qualifying we are not there. In Q2 I just went for it because I really wanted that Q3 and I just kind of closed my eyes a bit and went for it.
"After three or four corners I was actually flying during that lap. My plan was to do that lap [on my second run] in Q2 but after three or four corners I saw on the dash I was already two tenths quicker and I didn't expect that. So I thought ‘this might be the lap - Q2 run one - that takes me into Q3 so I better keep doing what I’m doing and go for it’.
"It was perfect until the last 200 metres but I clipped the wall. It was a miscalculation and avoidable because I thought I had enough space but then I saw the replay and actually the car is sliding and the rear wheel is touching when my front is not at all and this is what brings me back to the wall."
And Sainz admits he has had to push hard throughout the race weekend to make up for Toro Rosso's power unit deficit in Canada.
“I’ve been living on the edge the whole weekend, honestly. I think if you see the replays from yesterday I was pushing hard the whole weekend and the situation in Q1 I think made me push the tiny bit extra that maybe was not possible in Q2 run one.
"In Q1 it was a bit of a disappointment for me to be so far off, and that’s why I say it’s something extra because some days it works. Sometimes in my career it has worked and you can be the hero if one day it works, but today it didn’t.”
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