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Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz smiles despite the “very messy” opening day in Texas


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Carlos Sainz arrived with a smile on his face after Friday practice in Austin after doing laps at the Circuit of The Americas for the first time since 2019 – despite the Ferrari driver saying the traffic and high temperatures could mean that it could get “very messy” in Texas pursuit …

Sainz, who finished fifth in FP1 behind his teammate Charles Leclerc and ninth with Leclerc in FP2, explained why he fell behind in the second session and why the challenges he faced on Friday could also emerge on Saturday.

READ MORE: Hamilton and Bottas admit they “lost some ground” when Red Bull strikes back in US GP second practice

“I have to smile because, above all, I had a lot of fun, it’s a great track to drive and I just enjoy every lap that I drive here,” began Sainz. “And the car, the setup in the FP1 was pretty tricky with the bumps, some setup tunings and we were able to improve it a lot for the FP2 – so I was a little happier in the FP2, although the timesheets are not displayed.” had a pretty gruff third sector with traffic and a bug.

It is the traffic that Sainz believes could be the crux of the plant when he stated, “Obviously this one [are] Cars sensitive to wind and dirty air, we need large distances between cars … And if you run into traffic like in the last sector, how critical the tires are at the end of the lap when overheating, how hot it is, dirty air plus overheating can get very chaotic. “

2021 USA GP FP1: Leclerc slips at COTA. into the gravel bed

Teammate Leclerc – fourth and seventh in the respective Friday sessions – rated Ferrari’s pace positively despite a massive slide into the gravel trap in FP1 (above).

He said: “The FP1 was very good, especially on the low fuel runs. And then the FP2 was a little less positive on the low fuel runs, but the high fuel runs looked good, so this is the most important thing for Sunday. There’s still a little missing here and there, but it’s a very demanding track and we have to find a bit of balance between qualifying and racing. “

READ MORE: Verstappen explains traffic frustrations – and why he called Hamilton “an idiot” – in FP2 at COTA

Just 7.5 points behind McLaren before the United States Grand Prix, Ferrari is close to third place in the constructors’ championship. But where do they compare to their midfield rivals in Texas?

“As we have been since the beginning of the year, we are very, very close,” said Leclerc. “We just have to try to do everything perfectly to beat them and to be consistent with our work until the end of the season,” he concluded.

The post Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz smiles despite the “very messy” opening day in Texas first appeared on monter-une-startup.