Bahrain International Circuit, Friday 27 November

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Racing Director Andrea Stella after Friday in Bahrain.

CARLOS SAINZ, #55

FP1	1m30.018s (+0.985s)	31 laps	4th
FP2	1m30.271s (+1.300s)	33 laps	13th

"We expect another tight battle again this weekend with our main competitors, but it’s impossible to say who has the edge from today’s running. In terms of degradation, it’s a bit of a special weekend because I don’t think anyone’s going to be capable of doing a one-stop on Sunday, so we are up for interesting strategies during the race.

“Today was a good Friday in general, with lots of testing and a good amount of laps in both sessions. All three compounds are working well, and all three could be used in the race. I had to abort my flying lap on the Soft compound due to the red flag, but it was coming together nicely and I think we have a decent base line to fine-tune tomorrow.”

LANDO NORRIS, #4

FP1	1m31.392s (+2.359s)	27 laps	18th
FP2	1m29.841s (+0.870s)	30 laps	7th

“Tricky day, but at the same time one where I think we gathered a lot of data and got a good understanding of the car. We got through all the planning and the running that we wanted to. It wasn't the easiest or the most straightforward day, but we’ve got good info, so it’s down to tonight and FP3 to put it all together and make some improvements going into qualifying.”

ANDREA STELLA, Racing Director

“Our double-header in Bahrain began with a very busy Friday. The job list for the first day of practice contained a lot of entries: we had aerodynamic test items, tyres for 2021, plus the usual set-up optimisation and investigation of the tyres for the race. This season, the compounds are one step softer than last year, which creates some interesting implications for race strategy.

“We’re happy that we could complete our programme, despite the red flag interruptions in FP2. We have a lot of information to study overnight. There’s some pretty interesting variables and we need to put it all together to be ready for qualifying and the race, where we’ll have to be at our best to compete for good points.”

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