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Martin Brundle laughed at Carlos Sainz team radio message after Mexico City Grand Prix pole

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Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz showed his team what they’ll be missing next year with a phenomenal performance in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz was the only driver who managed to break the 1:15 barrier during the final part of qualifying as he secured the sixth pole position of his F1 career.

After Ferrari secured a fantastic one-two finish in Austin, the Mexico City Grand Prix offers Frederic Vasseur’s team another chance to overtake Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship and close the gap to leaders McLaren.

Teammate Charles Leclerc was furious he couldn’t match Sainz’s performance in Mexico and had to settle for a start on the second row of the grid.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Sainz started the 2024 F1 season with a point to prove knowing he had already lost his seat for the following campaign.

Lewis Hamilton was arguably the only driver – aside from potentially Max Verstappen – that would have forced Ferrari to part ways with Sainz.

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Qualifying
Photo by Peter Fox – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

However, the Spaniard proved with his victory in Australia immediately after having appendix surgery that whichever team signed the 30-year-old next was bringing in a world-class driver.

Martin Brundle and David Croft were commentating on qualifying for Sky Sports F1 and were very impressed with Sainz.

Brundle loved Sainz’s driving style in Mexico, and when asked about it Sainz admitted copying Lando Norris’s technique to help him earn pole position.

The Spaniard also said something over the team radio that Brundle loved and made him laugh on his way back to the pit lane.

Ferrari star Carlos Sainz makes Martin Brundle laugh with Mexico City Grand Prix radio message

Once the chequered flag had been waved and Sainz’s pole position was confirmed, Croft said: “What a lap from Carlos Sainz! Delight for him.”

Brundle replied: “Well, two great laps, both of which would have been pole position. A 16-flat and he got into the 1:15s, the class of the field in that qualifying.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

After a superb qualifying session for Sainz, his engineer said: “Pole! What a lap!”

Sainz quickly retorted: “Two, two laps, two laps,” to which his engineer said: “You were smooth out there.”

Brundle was laughing on commentary at Sainz’s clarification and added: “Yeah, exactly! Sainz, the class of the field.”

Guenther Steiner concerned for Carlos Sainz’s F1 future

Sainz will be very frustrated that Ferrari are starting to peak just as his time with the team comes to an end.

The Spaniard is widely regarded as one of the most intelligent drivers on the grid and would have played a key role in the development of this year’s car.

This means that Hamilton is likely to benefit a lot more from his work than he will and while he’ll be encouraged by the small steps forward Williams are taking, they’re a long way off battling Red Bull and McLaren.

Guenther Steiner believes ‘something bad’ must happen for Sainz to win a race next year, with Williams set to concentrate much of their work on their 2026 car next season.

James Vowles has explained to Sainz the sacrifice he’ll need to make in 2025 to help the team going forward, which he would have agreed to even if it means he’s going to take a big step backwards compared to where he is this year.

Steiner has also said that he would have replaced Perez with Sainz at Red Bull, and while that seat might be vacant at the end of the year if the Mexican’s form doesn’t improve, it won’t be Sainz who steps into his place.