Monday was the first of McLaren’s days of pre-season Formula 1 testing currently taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona, Catalunya.
At the end of his first day running new McLaren signing Carlos Sainz Jr was quite satisfied. However, his car lost at the exit of the pitlane and former Renault driver had to be wheeled back in.
“Everyone in the team has to be proud, has to be happy. The hard work over the winter, the plan we put together to have the car early for the presentation and to be out on track at nine o’clock has paid off.” Sainz said.
“This afternoon we completed some long runs, we finished the day with the red flags at six o’clock. So it was definitely a good way to start, and definitely people here at the track are happy. But we must not forget all the people back at Woking who are the main ones who put together this car.” Sainz added.
McLaren endured a troubled start to F1’s concluding pre-season test after their former driver Stoffel Vandoorne broke down twice inside the opening hour in last year.
Though it was the last team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull to win a race – that victory is now over six years ago.
Sainz, meanwhile, said the quality and professionalism he had encountered at the team had given him encouragement.
Carlos Sainz was satisfied in his first test in Barcelona with MCL34. (Source:www.motorsport.com)
“I realised the quality there is at McLaren since the day I arrived at the team. That has never been a question, and even before arriving at the team, I had a lot of trust in this team.” Sainz said.
“In six years you cannot forget how to make fast cars, although we are still far away from where we want to be.
“But I like when I see the car, the attention to detail; the steering, how the seat is done. You can see there is professional people, tidy people, a clean atmosphere and I definitely like that.” Sainz added.
The test session in Barcelona runs until Thursday. The first item on the agenda was a check of all the car systems, followed by a series of runs with the car in different configurations.
