The Imola weekend has officially begun. Today at 13 pm the riders will take to the track for the first and only free practice session of the day, which will be followed by qualifying at 30 pm due to the format imposed by tomorrow's Sprint.
Among the first drivers to speak at the press conference that introduces us to the race weekend is Carlos Sainz, one of the protagonists of the weekend, fresh from his renewal with Ferrari, who arrived yesterday. The Spaniard is in his second year in the Maranello team and after having already achieved excellent results during last season he was reconfirmed until 2024, without problems or second thoughts, as some claimed after retiring in Australia. The change of Power Unit on the Spaniard's F1-75 for the Imola weekend was also confirmed after the team had encountered problems with the first unit of the season after Melbourne, which however will be preserved and used in the future.
“Happy with the renewal after the good 2021 season. And now that we are fighting for important goals, it makes the situation perfect. he said Sainz in press conferences. "I am enthusiastic. I've never spent 4 years in a team, the two years in McLaren were the longest."
Even his teammate, Charles Leclerc talked about the renewal of Sainz: "I'm very happy. He's a good guy and a great driver, we have a great relationship. We work very well together, the most important thing is that we have the same feedback. Having Carlos in the team for the next two years is fantastic."
There's news on the first Power Unit change for the Spanish rider. The second unit should have debuted in 1 or 2 races but a problem led the team to anticipate the replacement to try to preserve the unit which is on the F1-75 number 55 from Bahrain.