Carlos Sainz secured a sixth-place grid position for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix after overcoming a difficult start to the race weekend.
The Spaniard described the earlier sessions as "scrappy," citing mistakes from both himself and the Williams team.
His struggles included being eliminated in the second stage of sprint qualifying and later making contact with the wall at Turn 13 during the sprint race, causing damage to his car's left-hand wheels.
Sainz explained that following the sprint, he felt he was "spiralling thinking about all the things that we've been doing wrong." He decided a reset was necessary before the crucial qualifying session for the main race.
He told engineers they needed to refocus, stating he would "take a 20-minute nap and come back with a different mentality because clearly this weekend is not being good, and let's give it a go in qualifying."
The approach proved effective, as Sainz showed the car's capability in qualifying. He finished P6, only three tenths of a second behind pole position.
His lap was a tenth faster than teammate Alex Albon, who faced his own issues during the weekend, including a pitlane incident involving Isack Hadjar in Q1 that resulted in a reprimand. Albon had also lost points in the sprint race due to a safety car delta time penalty.
Carlos Sainz believes the Williams FW47 car performed well on the Miami circuit characteristics, potentially making it an outlier track for the team's form this season.
He expressed satisfaction with the result. "I'm very happy after a very scrappy weekend, both on the operational side and the driving side, where a lot of mistakes happening from both the team and my side," Sainz said.
