A result that exceeds the expectations of Sainz and McLaren

After the podium Lando Norris last week in Austria, we were waiting to see if the MCL35 could confirm this good start to the season.

In much more complicated conditions, McLaren indeed showed itself to its advantage in qualifying this Saturday, this time, with a third place for Carlos Sainz.

The Spaniard, future pilot Ferrari, knew how to play around with Spielberg's soggy track to slide in the wake of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull), at the end of a very complicated session in terms of driving.

“It would be good for you to see what we are going through in a car de Formula 1, like at the end of Q3 with a lot of stagnant water and aquaplaning without seeing anything, declared Sainz after the session.

Just keep your foot all the way on the pedal and trust that there will be grip so you can put it all in for a ride and risk it all. So I'm very happy but it was very stressful at the same time.

We are completely blind in the car because we can't see anything in front or behind, we don't even know who is attacking and who isn't and you don't want to get in anyone's way but you want to keep your position on the track. Engineers are our eyes in these conditions. »

It remains to confirm this great performance tomorrow, for a race which should be contested in the dry. This is good McLaren seems to have worked well on its subject in free practice.

“I don't know how we will behave tomorrow, I just know that we focused a lot in FP2 on the long runs to see how the tires behaved over time and thus try to make the right decision for tomorrow, Sainz analyzes.

It's very tricky because you don't know the fuel or engine modes that everyone uses. I wouldn't say we were particularly far away in the race last weekend, we just got back to our normal position, where we deserved to be.

But I think that we exceeded our expectations in qualifications, like Lando with an incredible lap in qualifying, so let's see what we can do tomorrow but I'm really excited about it. »

McLaren management, however, wanted to be cautious this Saturday evening, with their sights set on the potential return of the Racing Point RP20s, fast in free practice in the dry, or even the Red Bull from Alex Albon, author of a first-class finish last week.

The only unknown is the physique of Lando Norris. Bothered by pain, the Briton expects to be in trouble tomorrow. 6th in qualifying, the young McLaren talent will have to start 9th after a penalty for having overtaken under yellow flag in free practice.