Carlos Sainz explains lack of grip on first day of testing in Bahrain

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has admitted that his F1-75 challenger felt more difficult to drive through the corners at the Bahrain International Circuit as compared to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, pointing to the highest temperatures in the Middle East as a key factor.

The Formula 1 teams returned to the track today for the first time after the Barcelona testing sessions, having had two weeks to work on their 2022 F1 car. This will be the final opportunity for teams to better understand 2022’s new cars and they have to do it in the Bahrain heat.

These conditions made it much harder for drivers with almost every driver on the circuit taking their turn to understeer wide, mainly at Turn 10. For the second day of testing in Sakhir the forecast is set to be even hotter, with highs of 32 degrees celsius predicted at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Asked to comment on the F1-75 car felt when cornering, Carlos Sainz explained: “It feels, in Bahrain, let’s say, a bit worse than in Barcelona because it is a lot warmer and the tarmac has a lot less grip. It feels a lot trickier to drive in Bahrain than in Barcelona but this is normal, we have this every year. The car, in the corners, feels different to last year but it also feels like we are doing progress and we know better what to do after every lap.” – he said in Ferrari’s Instagram live stream.

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Regardless, it was another solid day for the Maranello team. Despite Carlos Sainz’s difficulties with cornering, Ferrari finished the second and third place:

“[It was] another good day of testing for us, continuing where we left off in Barcelona, with similar run plans but starting to check different set-up windows. We missed out on a final run on C3s, but in general we managed to test two or three things that were very important for us and we managed to put together a good day of running with no issues. The mechanics are working hard in the heat, which is never easy, so I thank them for the effort. We still have a couple of long days ahead, but hopefully they will be very productive ones.” – Carlos Sainz concluded.