Carlos Sainz says he expects to be in better form for qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix following a difficult opening day of running on Friday.
Sainz ended the opening practice session in last place after suffering a high-speed spin at Turn 9 and complained of a “poor ride” during the outing.
For FP2, he remained outside of the top 10 in the timesheets and was over one-second down on compatriot Fernando Alonso who headed the session.
Reflecting on his difficult day, Sainz says his afternoon woes carried over into the evening – but is expecting improvements on Saturday.
“I lost a bit of track time, rhythm and probably paid the price in FP2, still the car doesn’t feel how it did in testing so we’re putting an eye into what it could be,” he said.
“The track conditions have changed a bit, the performance swings also have changed, so we will have a good look overnight and try and put it together tomorrow.
“The car is not exactly responding as I expect or how it did in testing, and for that I’m struggling a bit more with the balance.
“It’s a bit more out of place compared to where it was but we’re having a good look a tit and expect to put it back together for tomorrow.”
The pecking order after the first day of running appears to have Aston Martin in the fight towards the front, with Ferrari sitting as the third-fastest team.
However, Sainz asserts that it’s impossible to draw conclusions until the competitive sessions have played out.
“We said it yesterday that we expect them [Aston Martin] to be in the fight, I’m not sure they have enough to beat the Red Bull, who knows,” Sainz said.
“But they definitely seem in the fight. I hope we can do a step tomorrow and get back up there.
As for Ferrari’s expectations for qualifying, Sainz said: “If the car feels how it did in testing and I manage to put a good lap together, the field looks tight, impossible to predict, but definitely better than today.”
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