Carlos Sainz, unlike his teammate, he only completed the FP2This is because during the first free practice session his car was in the hands of the most little Leclerc, Arthur. The Sainz's feelings on the track are not negative, but with McLaren 2/3 tenths faster he finds it difficult to beat them. Also in view of the penalty due to Charles' PU change.
Sainz's words after running on track for FP2 in Abu Dhabi
Although the Spaniard closed the session in P4, and therefore better than his teammate's sixth place in terms of performance, does not seem confident for a comparison on equal terms with rival McLaren.
THEobiettivo, despite the expected obstacles, it doesn't seem to have changed: the dream is always to bring home the builder title after years. Carlos Sainz, at his last GP in red, comments on the day like this.
"As always, when the track temperature drops and we have the soft tyres we struggle more, we are not really half a second from the McLaren, but two-three tenths yes. This is something we have to recover by tomorrow."

"We carried this deficit with us even on long runs. Surprised by the gap? No, McLaren and Lando in particular have always been fast here in Abu Dhabi. They will always be a difficult team to beat and at the moment they seem to be the strongest."
«I only did one shift, but I'm happy with how I managed to get back into the rhythm right away. – he then continued the Spanish – Already on the second lap I had the best time. This is good news because it means I have confidence in the car and I know how to approach it and how to drive. However, with the soft tyres we had problems, we were unable to extract all the performance.»