It was a doggy afternoon in the Austrian Alps. A rainy and cold Saturday, aquaplanning and spinning tops, where the pilots' hands had to prevail over the power of the engines. And Carlos Sainz managed to button up the best Saturday of his life, with a third place finish at the Styrian GP (1: 20.671) behind only Lewis Hamilton (1: 19.273) and Max Verstappen (1: 20.489).

"I feel it is something special because it was my most difficult classification since I came to F1," explained the Spaniard on the F1 microphones, just park his McLaren next to the two big favorites for victory tomorrow. The step forward of the team led by Andreas Seidl , signed a week ago, was confirmed with the spectacular return of Carlos, who now aspires to repeat the recent podium of Lando Norris .

The puddles in the last sector of the track and the harsh rain during Q3 did not intimidate Sainz, who allowed himself the pleasure of beating fourth-placed Valtteri Bottas and the two Ferraris, protagonists of another unmitigated fiasco. The weather forecast augurs a race on dry asphalt, so that the Spaniard can do little against the Mercedes. He will have to focus his efforts on containing Esteban Ocon , fifth and his garage partner, sixth.

Second red disaster

The downpour, inclement, had caused the cancellation of the last free practice of the morning. Only after 45 minutes of waiting, with the relevant checks of the 'safety car' and the helicopter, did Michael Masi , race director , decide to start the classification.

No one even knew for sure if Q2 could be reached. So almost three minutes before the green light, the 20 cars, with Sebastian Vettel in front, lined up on the pit road. Under those painful conditions of visibility, there was nothing but courage. You had to negotiate each corner almost blindly, away from the pianos, until you became familiar with a completely flooded track.

Within 10 minutes, with both traction and tumble dry, the extreme rain tires began to deliver results. Norris and Sainz were able to establish themselves in the Top-5, almost on par with Hamilton and Verstappen. The MCL-35, even in such critical conditions, repeated the great performance of last week. Its pilots, fast and error-free, were relentless.

Disappointment for Pérez

The slightest contact with the red and white paint put anyone in trouble. Any approach to the green outer shoulder, as happened to Antonio Giovinazzi , was simply doom. Sergio Pérez , one of Friday's entertainers with Racing Point, never found the rhythm and was eliminated the first time.

Charles Leclerc had started well, changing the traditional lines a lot, although he soon lost steam. More inspired Vettel erred later in Q2, when the two Ferraris were already trying to bypass the elimination zone. These drowning make up the sad and new normality of the Scuderia . "I am suffering with the car," the Monegasque admitted on the radio, only eight thousandths better than George Russell's Williams , just before being out of Q3.

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