Carlos Sainz #55
FP1 1m35.723s (+1.666s) 26 laps 12th
FP2 1m34.667s (+1.435s) 34 laps 8th
“It’s been a bit of a different Friday, having next season’s tyre compounds available. Unfortunately, my first impression of these tyres wasn’t very positive. I felt we were probably struggling a bit more this weekend to find the right balance in the car.
“It took us a few more runs to find a better compromise, but by the end of the day, we more or less managed to find a decent baseline. However, this weekend looks extremely tight and I expect a tense fight to get into the top 10. It looks challenging but we’ll make sure we work hard to maximise our options.”
Lando Norris #4
FP1 1m36.263s (+2.206s) 23 laps 18th
FP2 1m35.025s (+1.793s) 30 laps 14th
“A tricky day with all the bumps which are worse than last year, making it easy to snatch a front wheel and have a small lock-up. But after today, we have a direction to push in for tomorrow.
“We’re there or thereabouts on pace, but it’s very close. So, it’s going to be more about putting the lap together and seeing how we get on, but we’ve got a bit of work to do.”