Not for the first time this season, Carlos Sainz came within a whisker of claiming pole position, something he last achieved at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The top three were astonishingly split by just 0.57 seconds, in what is arguably one of the closest top three in the history of Formula 1.
Onboards show that pole sitter Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were all level by the time they reached the chicane at Turn 16, where both Ferrari drivers seemingly lost out to the championship leader.
Verstappen took a much better line into Turn 16, which straightened Turn 17 up for him, giving the Dutchman a near perfect run to the line.
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Sainz, much to his frustration, had to settle for third, something he admitted he was “fed up” with.
The Spaniard highlighted the time he lost at the chicane as the reason why he didn’t claim his third pole of the season, after admitting he could’ve gone “half a tenth” faster.
“It was a good lap,” said Sainz.
“Clean all the way until the last chicane. There, probably I overcooked a bit the tyres going in and it cost me quite a bit of lap time.
“But [there was] another half a tenth that we could have got there.
“It was a very clean lap, a very good lap all the way until the last corner. I picked up quite a bit of wheelspin, just a bit too much for my rear tyres in that last lap.”
It isn’t the first time Sainz as missed out by hundredths of a second, let alone tenths.
It further proves how much closer Formula 1 is today, with the days of people claiming pole by several tenths seemingly well in the past.
Sainz was just over a tenth off pole at Singapore and was just under a tenth off the fastest time at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the Spaniard’s frustration clearly building, with the top two places seemingly always falling into “Max or Charles’ hands”.
“I’m a bit fed up of being half a tenth off from pole,” admitted the Ferrari driver.
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“I think it’s been a few qualis now, consecutive since Zandvoort.
“Also, before the summer break, where we are all three very tight with each other. But somehow it tends to fall into Max or Charles’ hands instead of mine.
“Hopefully towards the end of this season, I will end up getting one and get it out of the way.”