Yet he was the pilot of the moment. Carlos Sainz, who remained on a victory at the Australian Grand Prix and a podium in Japan, sent his Ferrari into the scene on Saturday morning during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. In the last corner before the finish line, less than seven minutes from the end of Q2, the 29-year-old Spaniard bit into the gravel and lost control of his car, which slid across the track. to go and embed themselves in the advertising panels. Red flag.
Carlos Sainz had set the 4th fastest time in the first qualifying session when the accident occurred. The session was interrupted for around ten minutes, time to clean the track. The accident did not damage the car too much since the Spanish driver, unhurt, was able to return to the Ferrari garage and return to the track. He left when the session resumed to try to secure a place in the Top 10, synonymous with passage to Q3 where pole position is contested. Objective achieved since he signed the third best time behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez.
Sainz should easily start the race on Sunday morning (9 a.m. French time). It remains to be seen where. Saturday morning, he finished 5th in the sprint race behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. Driven out of Ferrari by the arrival of Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season, he could go the opposite way and sign for Mercedes. This information from the Italian press remains to be confirmed.