Sainz: I saw my partner running into a drain hatch

The morning session of the second day of pre-season testing ended early due to a drainage system hatch that damaged the underside of Charles Leclerc’s car. His teammate Carlos Sainz was on the track at the time and saw with his own eyes how Leclerc drove through a poorly secured hatch.

Carlos Sainz: “I went to the track to look at the cars and was right in front of the hatch when it opened. I looked and thought, “Show yellow flags, show yellow flags, because someone is going to run into him!” And then “Boom!” – my partner ran into a hatch.

I felt like this could have been avoided, but one lap wasn’t enough for me to warn of the danger. I was just talking to the marshal when it all happened. I even feel a little guilty.”

About the first impressions of the new car, Carlos said: “The impression is positive because the car behaves exactly as we expected. We have a good starting point, but at the moment I don’t know if it will be enough to show the same speed as Red Bull and win. It’s too early to talk about it.

Compared to last year, the new car has become better to handle, not so sensitive to the wind – its behavior is more predictable. Last year we had problems with tire wear during the race, so for me the most important task for the remaining days of testing is to focus on working on the long series of laps.”