Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz reacts to driving in Jeddah practice while battling sickness. Carlos Sainz confirmed he was still battling sickness in Jeddah practice.

Carlos Sainz had to contend with gastroenteritis and fever but gritted his teeth to take part in both of today’s free practice sessions in Jeddah. His physical condition did not allow him to be satisfied with the race pace shown this afternoon.

A difficult day. Carlos Sainz had to grit his teeth not so much after seeing the result of Free Practice 2 in Jeddah, which placed him in seventh position over six tenths away from the reference time set by his compatriot Fernando Alonso, but because of the gastroenteritis that weakened him in the last 24 hours.

Carlos Sainz was at risk of not participating in Free Practice 1 in the early afternoon Italian time (Oliver Bearman, Ferrari’s reserve driver this weekend, was ready), but he gritted his teeth and ran for the scheduled 2 hours, beginning to get acquainted with the Saudi Arabian track.

“Obviously, it was a very difficult day after feeling ill,” the Spanish driver stated at the end of Free Practice 2. “The last 24 hours have been tough and challenging for me. Today was about trying to get on the track and learn as much as possible from the car, without pushing too hard to the limit because I was still a bit out of shape, but yes, we managed to complete the program without problems. I hope to feel better tomorrow, even if probably not at 100%. But feeling better will allow me to push more to the limit and have a good Saturday.” – he pointed out.

“This track has high grip, with high asphalt adherence and high speed, so it’s physically demanding as well. And it’s much more challenging for both the car and the driver. So yes, a difficult day, as I said, but we managed to get through it. Now we’ll take some breath and come back stronger tomorrow.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s team principal, praised Carlos Sainz for the work done today despite a physically challenging situation. His race pace was considered more than satisfactory by the French manager, but the Ferrari man knows he can do better and highlighted this at the end of the interview given at the end of the day:

“This day was more important for me than for the car, to be honest. That’s why today it’s very difficult to read the lap times. But tomorrow is qualifying. We will prepare everything and try to go into qualifying. Sunday will be a bit different, because today my long runs were not ideal.” – he concluded.