Carlos Sainz turned up for the first free practice sessions of the 2022 Formula 2 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in good shape after showing that the new Ferrari F1-75 is a single-seater capable of fighting for victories.
The Spaniard was in the front positions in most of the two sessions that opened in progress at the Gran Circo, and signed two third positions that place him as a clear favorite to occupy one of the podium positions at the end of the race in Sakhir.
However, as the Madrilenian himself has acknowledged, he will still have to analyze what has happened on this first Friday of the year to feel better in the Maranello car. Sainz explained that he was not totally comfortable in some corners, and in both practices he was behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc.
“I think it has been a positive start for the team, confirming a bit the good feeling we had since the pre-season tests,” said the Spaniard. “For my part, honestly, Free Practice 2 has been quite difficult, I still haven’t understood the car in the short runs.”
The 27-year-old indicated where he was struggling the most with the red car: “I’m struggling with the front tyres, with the warm-up and with a lot of understeer in the mid-speed corners. I’m still not driving as I should in the ideal way, so We have work ahead of us on that section overnight to make sure I can find the lap time tomorrow.”
However, Sainz still has room to find those tenths that are missing if he manages to fine-tune his Ferrari: “I know where we have to work and I know which parts we need to improve on, and I hope we can take the right steps for tomorrow.”
“I’m hoping to move forward, because at the moment I’m not entirely happy,” continued the Spaniard. “I’m not in a great position with this driving and how the car feels on the front tyres.
Sainz will go into the third free practice session with an hour to configure the car to his liking before Saturday’s decisive qualifying, which will decide the starting order of the first race of the 2022 season.
