Carlos Sainz Jr admits it “was a challenging session” for his Renault Sport Formula One Team after a tough Friday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Renault driver was bottom of the timesheets in the morning session and set the lowest number of laps, with problems under braking meaning the Spaniard flat-spotted his tyres, which meant his team brought him in early, losing him vital track time, with the Spaniard admitting it was ‘a challenging session’.
The tight and twisty track has no other racing on it in the year so the city streets take time to rubber in.
“We were trying to understand some new parts on a very green track and braking got tricky at times,” said Sainz.
After a poor first session, Sainz was one of the first drivers to be straight onto the track in the afternoon session, and the second practice saw an improvement with the Spanish driver posting the eighth fastest time. The midfield looks as tight as it has done all season and Sainz knows there is still improvements to be made.
“We understood everything quite quickly and completed our run plan in FP2 without issues and with better performance,” said Sainz.
“There is still margin to improve so we’ll work hard to get there.”
