Renault's Carlos Sainz Jr. described his Q3 qualifying lap "the most stressful" of his life as he went on to secure eighth on the grid for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
The Spaniard outqualified his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for the second race in a row as the German failed to escape Q2 in P11.
Sainz Jr.'s best lap, a 1:12.130, was just 0.020 shy of Fernando Alonso in seventh and a tenth down on Force India's Esteban Ocon, who claimed 'best of the rest' behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
"My one minute 12 [second] lap was the fastest and most stressful lap of my life," declared Sainz Jr. "[I did] a lot of work in the cockpit, everything coming in so fast, it was extremely close around here.
"It’s super fun. I had a lot of fun during that qualifying session. A bit too stressful in my opinion because we didn’t expect McLaren and Force India to jump us in Q1 and Q2 and I had to give 110 per cent in Q3 to beat one of them."
Sainz Jr. added that the intense nature of the midfield battle meant he had to find gains on every single lap to ensure his place in Q3 was safe as those around him continued to improve throughout the sessions.
"The middle is so tight, I think it’s Fernando [Alonso], me, [Sergio] Perez, we were all within one tenth and every time you do a very good lap you look at the screens and you see yourself P12, not in the top 10.
"You say ‘I need to find another two tenths and I don’t know where I’m going to find them!’
"The next lap you go, you push a bit more and you find them and relief, but then they beat you again so it’s like that all of the time in Q1, Q2, in this midfield fight."
