Pre-season testing Day 1: Carlos Sainz completes afternoon session for Ferrari. Report from the afternoon session.

Not the greatest levels of visibility then for the drivers who took to the track in the afternoon session after some lunchtime team-mate switches, including Carlos for Ferrari. Grip levels began to improve, as the cars ventured down the pit lane in this afternoon session. While times at the start of the afternoon weren’t good, conditions slowly improved into the evening and the times eventually did start to fall.

Formula 1’s most successful team, barring Charles Leclerc’s stoppage earlier, have been solid if not spectacular on Day One, with Carlos Sainz completing the Italian side’s afternoon session on the first day of testing. We should get a better idea of Ferrari’s improved engine power as this test progresses.

The Spanish driver finished fifth, with a personal best lap time which was almost 1.2 seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s benchmark of 1.30.674 (on the C3 tyre compound), but most importantly, Carlos Sainz completed 56 laps in the afternoon session, which brings Ferrari’s total lap count to over 100 in this first day of pre-season testing session at the Bahrain International Circuit, as the Maranello team will be looking to gather that important data for the ongoing development and setup of the SF21 car.