SAKHIR – Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz might just have a point to prove this Formula One season, as he is set to lose his seat to Lewis Hamilton at the end of the campaign.
On Feb 22, the Spaniard set the pace on the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, after the team changed the car’s damaged floor following a loose drain cover incident.
The morning session was halted – the first red flag of the year – after Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc ran over the cover at Turn 11. Mercedes’ Hamilton also went over it, with debris flying in the air.
Teams have only one car each on track over the three days of testing at Sakhir, with Leclerc and Sainz alternating, and Ferrari took the SF-24 back into the garage for repairs with the shutters down.
Sainz took over in the afternoon/evening session, brought forward an hour to make up for the time lost to track repairs, and lapped with a best time of 1min 29.921sec on the second softest C4 tyre.
“Another day of testing completed according to plan and without issues,” he said afterwards.
“We managed to go through the whole afternoon programme smoothly, combining various tests with low and high fuel runs, so it was interesting to get a feel for this year’s car in different configurations.”
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was closest to him on the slower C3 tyre, 0.758sec off the pace, with Hamilton third and McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth.
“We’ve clearly made an improvement with this year’s car and it’s much nicer to drive,” said seven-time world champion Hamilton, who completed 123 laps.
Leclerc had topped the earlier timesheets in 1:31.750 on the C3 tyre, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri 0.578sec slower and Williams’ Logan Sargeant third and 0.828sec off the pace.
The Ferrari driver returned in the afternoon to complete his programme before handing over to Sainz.
The drain cover incident brought back memories of Las Vegas last November when Sainz ran over a loose cover during first practice, bringing a lengthy halt to proceedings.
Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile said the problem was easily fixed.
“The damage was on a small portion of the floor... nothing worrying. We changed the floor, proceeding with our plan and no drama,” he added.
Sainz ended up with 84 laps to Leclerc’s 54.
The season starts in Bahrain on March 2, the first round of what will be a record 24-race championship, and every minute of pre-season running is precious.
Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen was fastest on Feb 21, although timings do not mean so much with teams running to their own programmes, and Perez had his first turn on Feb 22.
The Mexican had a problem with overheating brakes in the morning but ended the day with 129 laps under his belt.
“Generally speaking, I think the RB20 is a step forward for the team and we have gone in the right direction,” he said.
Thai driver Alex Albon was also positive about his car. He said that Williams have ironed out many of last season’s problems but may still take time to hit their stride when the season starts.
The former champions moved up from bottom to seventh last campaign and have overhauled their car as they seek to build on their improvement.
“What’s clear is it’s going to take a while to get there. It’s a totally different car to understand,” Albon added.
“I don’t think we’re going to hit the ground running but we can hit the ground jogging and have a good few races hopefully.”
Williams had a difficult first day, Albon doing 40 laps and Sargeant only 21 due to a fuel pump failure and driveshaft problem respectively.
The second day proved much more positive, with Sargeant covering 117 laps and looking pacey.
“It’s still a good car, we just need to iron out the details, get the balance in a slightly better place but we have plenty of ideas and tricks,” said the American. REUTERS, AFP
