Carlos Sainz Jr.: “There are quite a few things I still want to test on the last day”

Carlos Sainz Jr. was positive after finishing second fastest on the penultimate day of pre-season testing on Friday, although he admitted it was a bit of a strange afternoon due to ever-changing track conditions at the Bahrain International Circuit.

For much of the afternoon, the Scuderia Ferrari driver had looked as though he would top the time charts, only for Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen to jump to the top during their additional hour on track given to them following freight delays.

However, Sainz enjoyed a strong day, completing sixty laps despite the track conditions changing across the day, mainly due to the strong winds that were blowing across the Bahraini circuit.  He also says that despite the positive running, there are still things he wants to test on the final day on Saturday.

“A bit of a strange afternoon with track conditions changing a lot from run to run, especially the strong wind which made it difficult to be consistent on the short runs and to get a good understanding of each compound and how they compared to one another,” said Sainz.

“We will analyse everything tonight and prepare a good run plan for tomorrow, as there are quite a few things I still want to test on the last day. In general, another positive day for the team.”

“We will keep working to learn as much as we can” – Charles Leclerc

Team-mate Charles Leclerc started the day in the car and had another productive morning as he completed fifty-four laps on his way to seventh fastest.

Leclerc was pleased that the reliability of the F1-75 has been strong so far, which has made the testing programme relatively straightforward, and he hopes this will continue into the final day on Saturday as he continues preparations for the opening round of the season next weekend.

“Another session with a lot of tests completed this morning,” said Leclerc. “We are learning a lot about our car as well as the tyres, which are still relatively new to us.

“The balance seems to be good and I feel comfortable so far, but we have to keep in mind that the time sheets don’t mean anything and there is still a lot more to come from our competitors. 

“What is positive is that we have been consistent and have had no issues so far. We will keep working to learn as much as we can on our final day tomorrow.”