Sainz 'very careful and calm' after his best lap

Carlos Sainz lowered the absolute best time in the 2019 pre-season collective tests this Wednesday by completing a lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1'17"144. Shod with red Pirelli C4 tires, the Spaniard McLaren even ran faster than the 2018 reference – a time of 1’17”182 signed by Sebastian Vettel in Hyper-Soft. 

In the ranking, Sainz succeeded his teammate Lando Norris, who was the fastest on Tuesday. Shortly after delivering his effort, the Madrilenian had to immobilize his MCL34 with a motor Renault due to loss of water pressure. This setback did not prevent him from accumulating 130 rotations of the Catalan track, almost double the distance of a Spanish Grand Prix. 

« There are still major areas for improvement but I am happy to see that the car is improving with each outing on the track, particularly in terms of its balance., commented Sainz in the evening. This allows us to extract more performance from the car. The team works well and manages to correct small problems as they go along. 

We are not yet at the level where we want to evolve and we must redouble our efforts. Lap time in 1'17'' in Barcelona is a great performance but teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, etc. can go much faster. I am very careful and very calm ». 

Asked about the announced progress of the Renault engine, the 24-year-old driver added: « My first impression is that I feel a step forward. I feel like we're moving in the right direction. Afterwards, I don't know to what extent the other engine manufacturers improved during the winter. We will only know in Melbourne in qualifying when everyone uses the most aggressive modes ».  

Yes, can't wait for Australia, that the smoke screens stretched here and there in the paddock dissipate to reveal a first hierarchy in 2019.