Sao Paulo, November 11th 2017.- Carlos Sainz carried with him the momentum he had going into the Qualifying session of the 2017 Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix. The Spaniard of Renault Sport F1 Team reached Q3 for the third time in a row as he clinched the ninth spot of the Starting Grid for tomorrow’s event. He will begin from eighth place because one driver has a penalty.

It didn’t rain in the end at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace during Qualifing, although it drizzled briefly. The temperature was the biggest factor of all, as it was a much colder day than Friday. Air temperature was 17 degrees and the track was at 27.

Q1 was a good one for Carlos, who put himself on eighth place with his first timed-lap on supersoft tyres: 1:10.549. It was enough to advance to Q2, so he didn’t need to complete a second flying lap and he could save a set of tyres in comparison with his teammate.

In Q2, the team waited two minutes before getting Carlos on-track. His first timed-lap (1:10.057) was worth a provisional ninth place, which was a good sign of what was to come. With his second set of tyres, he improved to 1:09.768, going below the 1:10 mark for the first time this weekend. With this lap, he secured a ticket for Q3 for the third event in a row in his third appearance as a Renault driver.

In Q3, Carlos tried to maximize his potential. His first lap was 1:09.968, but then he improved to 1:09.805 before the chequered flag. It drizzled, but it didn’t compromise the track conditions. The Spaniard was the ninth fastest driver of the day, but will start from eighth because Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo has a grid-penalty. 

“Another Q3”, he said after the session. “I’m happy this weekend, because I’m feeling more and more comfortable in the car and I feel that I’m moving towards the limit. We are getting there. Interlagos is a very technical track and you really need to have the confidence in the car, so I am very happy”, he said.

“Tomorrow we will try and do a good start, and then fight until the chequered. I think we can score a good result. The first thing will be finishing the race so I can gain that extra-experience, which is very positive for me”, he said.

The Brazilian Grand Prix will start tomorrow Sunday at 14:00 local time, 17:00 Spanish time. As always, we will keep you updated via Carlos’ official website www.carlosainz.es and our Twitter account @carlosainzinfo.