Sainz: “It’s been a difficult Friday, but I believe we can take a step forward”

Carlos Sainz had a difficult first day of the season at his wheel Ferrari SF23The Spanish driver failed to set a time in the first practice session due to a large rebound on his car at Turn 9. Time driven by traffic in the second sector of the track on a full launch lap. The Spaniard finished 14th, 1.049 seconds behind the best time set by Fernando. Alonso already 0.6 seconds behind his partner’s time Charles Leclerc, was fourth. The Madrid-native driver has ensured that his focus has been on finding the keys to his car’s settings, which Ferrari will have to work on this Friday night. In this sense, Sainz is confident the team will find a solution to the balance issue in order to be more competitive in Saturday’s qualifying.

“Friday was more complicated than initially expected. The balance was different and we changed the car throughout the session to fix the main limitations”, In a statement released by the Ferrari team at the end of the day, the Madrid man commented. “It’s only Friday and we’ve seen it all in one night and I’m confident we can make a step forward tomorrow.”Carlos added.

“The first day of free practice went well. The more laps I did, the more comfortable I felt in the car, which is a positive thing.” Charles Leclerc says he is much more comfortable than pre-season testing in the SF23.

“It’s still hard to know where we stand because everyone seems to have had very different plans, but we’re focused on ourselves and heading in the right direction. continue.Leclerc, who tested the new wing in the morning, which had already been broken in pre-season testing, compared the data for this part to the more standard wing worn by Sainz. After showing it, he removed that rear wing from Charles’ car and restored it to the specs the man from Madrid had.