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Carlos Sainz will not be racing in the main event of the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday night because of a major issue with the fuel system in his Ferrari that the team discovered.
The Ferrari driver, who finished P6 in the Sprint earlier and was to start P12 in the race tonight, will not participate because of a major issue affecting his car. This will be a major blow to Ferrari who are trying to get ahead of Mercedes in the constructors' world championship for second place.
This will also increase the pressure on his teammate Charles Leclerc to perform better in the race to make up the points that Carlos Sainz could have potentially scored. As F1 quoted one of the team's spokespersons, they mentioned,
"Due to a fuel system issue on his car, Carlos will not take part in the Qatar GP."
There were expectations from Carlos Sainz as he has been, so far, the only non-Red Bull driver in the entire season to win a Grand Prix (Singapore), which also raised hopes for Ferrari to build more pressure over Brackley-based Mercedes in the championship. With both of the latter's drivers starting the race well ahead of Ferrari in the race, there is a good chance that they could further increase the 26-point gap.
Carlos Sainz reveals contract negotiations with Ferrari
Although this is not the final year of the Ferrari contract for the Spaniard, there are doubts over his further extension with the team. Sainz had mentioned earlier that he would not prefer moving to a future season with no contract.
Speaking in one of the press conferences, the 29-year-old revealed that he will be deciding his future during the winter break, and mentioned that it would be best if a decision is made.
"I will try to decide my future over the winter break. You already know my priority in the short, medium and long-term."
"And I hope that we will know it over winter."
Sainz further stated that he hasn't had a discussion with the team yet, but time is running out for him.
"We haven’t sat down yet. It’s not about if Ferrari wants to renew or not, there simply is not time."
