The first Friday of free practice was difficult for Carlos Sainz. Ferrari's number 55 first closed the FP1 atlast place (with a'runway exit at turn 10) and then the FP2 in 14th position. The numbers, however, shouldn't alarm us: the Spaniard did his flying lap at the beginning of the session, when the track was still lacking rubber, before concentrating on simulating race pace.
In any case, the day was more complicated than expected, but in the garage there is confidence to see a step forward in qualifying and in the race. The weekend of the Madrid native, who obtained an excellent second place here last year, is therefore yet to be written.
Sainz's words
"A more complicated Friday than expected. We had a few balance problem today and so it was necessary to change several settings on the car to react to the limitations that slowed me down. However it is only Friday and I am convinced that the analyzes we will do tonight will allow us to make a step forward tomorrow".
Sainz then explains his own runway exit in FP1. "We were testing some things in the car and trying to do it by the end of FP1. It didn't go the way we wanted, of course it wasn't intentional, but it was a rehearsal gone wrong and we took another direction for FP2".
“I lost some time and pace and I paid for it in FP2. The car does not look the same as in tests – adds the Madrid native to F1TV, highlighting a opposite feeling compared to his partner Leclerc - so we will investigate during the night and try to improve tomorrow”.
One aspect the two Ferraristi agree on, however, is the speed of Red Bull e Aston Martin. Speaking in particular of the Silverstone team, number 55 explains: “We have all always considered them in the fight. I don't know if they are fast enough to beat Red Bull, but they certainly look like they are in the fight".
“I hope to take a step forward tomorrow - he concludes - and to return to the top zone. If the car behaves like in the tests and I manage to put together a good lap... obviously the grid looks very close and it's impossible to make a prediction, but it could certainly be better than today.".
