Carlos Sainz still drove in FP1 and FP2 despite his illness. He admitted that it wasn’t an easy day, but even though he didn’t push the car to the limit, it was still enough to complete the program and prepare for Friday and Saturday.
The Spaniard closed the two practice sessions in P6 and P7, showing a great performance considering his physical condition. The tougher part of the program was the race pace simulation, where drivers have to go through the high-speed corners of Jeddah multiple times without resting.
Despite the difficulties, Sainz is happy to have been able to complete the program and hopes he will feel better in the next two days.
“Obviously a very difficult day after feeling sick. The last 24 hours have been tough and difficult for me.
“Today was all about trying to get myself on track and learn as much as possible from the car without really pushing too much the limits as I was still a bit on the non-ideal side, but we managed to complete the program without issues.
“Hopefully tomorrow I’m feeling better, even if probably I will not be 100%. But feeling better will allow me to be more on the limit and perform a good Saturday.”
Sainz also added that his times today aren’t that meaningful, but the team will still analyze them to understand what to improve and what is already positive on the car.
“Today it’s very difficult to read into lap times,” he added. “We will prepare everything and try to go for a good qualifying.
“The track is super high grip and high speed, so it also makes it tough from a physical point of view.
“It’s a lot more demanding for the car but also for the driver.
“A tricky day, as I said, but we managed to get it done. Now we’ll go and take some rest and come back tomorrow stronger.”