Karun Chandhok feels he owes Ferrari star Carlos Sainz 'an apology' at Australian GP
Carlos Sainz made his return to the cockpit at the Australian Grand Prix following successful surgery on his appendix.
Karun Chandhok has offered ‘an apology’ to Carlos Sainz after mentally writing him off in the fight for pole position ahead of qualifying. The Spaniard may have been forced to settle for P2 behind Max Verstappen, but he had the measure of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
During the three free practice sessions, Ferrari demonstrated impressive pace and looked like serious contenders for the pole position. Given his qualifying prowess and his showings throughout practice, Leclerc was often the one mentioned as Verstappen’s closest challenger for the weekend.
However, from early on in qualifying on Saturday it was clear that Sainz had the upper hand on his team-mate. The 29-year-old recorded a faster time than his Ferrari team-mate in all three parts of the session en route to an eventual front-row finish. Leclerc ultimately qualified fifth but was promoted to P4 following a grid drop penalty for Sergio Perez.
Discussing Saturday’s qualifying session in the brand-new Sky Sports F1 studio, Chandhok said: "I feel like I owe Carlos an apology because in commentary I was just focusing on Charles Leclerc and kind of ignoring him in the other car."
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Sainz’s achievements are even more impressive considering that he missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago after undergoing surgery following an appendicitis diagnosis. The Ferrari ace was replaced by Oliver Bearman, who was on standby again in Melbourne this weekend should his superior not be deemed race-fit.
"It’s been a tough couple of weeks, a lot of days in bed waiting for this moment to see if I could be here today,” Sainz said after securing a P2 start. "To make it to this weekend and then to put it on the front row after leading through qualifying, I was almost not believing it, especially after how tough it’s been.
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"But very happy to be here, very happy to be challenging the Red Bulls this weekend. I was a bit rusty at the beginning yesterday but then I got up to speed and I could finally find the pace and am feeling good with the car.
"I’m not going to lie, I’m not in my most comfortable state when I’m driving out there but I can get it done. And as long as I can get it done without the pain, obviously, a lot of discomfort and weird feelings but no pain, so it allows me to push flat out."