Although Sainz will start Sunday’s Paul Ricard race from the back of the grid due to his post-Austrian GP retirement engine change, Ferrari got the Spaniard to progress through to Q3 so he could help Leclerc in his battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen for pole.
In the final qualifying segment, Sainz led Leclerc out of the pits each time. After Leclerc had dropped back at the end of their outlaps to avoid dirty air from his teammate’s car through the technical first sector, Sainz waited for him to get through the Mistral chicane before towing him through Signes and up to Le Beausset before pulling over just before the right-hander.
