Sainz triggers red flags with Hungary Q2 shunt
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Carlos Sainz’s Saturday came to a premature and disappointing end after crashing out of qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Q2 threw up an interesting tactical battle as Mercedes and Red Bull made their initial attempts for Q3 on the medium tyres, keen to avoid the soft rubber which would limit strategy options for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The midfield teams though were playing spoiler on the softs, led by Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc had jumped up to P2, and Sainz was following behind his team-mate, about to deliver a lap time of his own on the softs.
That plan went out of the window though when the Spaniard lost the rear end of his SF21 at the final turn, sending him into the barriers with a whack.
The red flags came out to stop the session, but incredibly Sainz was able to keep the car going after that impact, but with the front wing now stuck underneath, the Spaniard was left with no choice but to pull up and retire from qualifying.
Sainz had a new engine fitted into his Ferrari for qualifying in Hungary, but with the rear-end taking a heavy hit from the barriers, Ferrari will now be keeping their fingers crossed that there will be no need for another power unit change.
More to follow…