Carlos Sainz enjoyed a very successful opening day at the Mexican Grand Prix after topping FP1 and technically ending the first day of the weekend as fastest.
The Spaniard led a Ferrari one-two Friday morning at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Circuit, in front of a huge crowd.
Sainz claimed top spot in FP1 after setting a 1:20.707, which was astonishingly less than five-thousandths faster than his Monegasque team-mate.
The circuit is looking set to be producing incredibly close lap-times, with the top six having been separated by less than two-tenths.
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A strong weekend is very much needed for Sainz, after retiring at the end of the first lap at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, as a result of being hit at the first corner by George Russell.
Russell actually topped FP2; however, the afternoon was somewhat meaningless in regard to 2022, with the session having been prioritised to testing the 2023 prototype tyres.
Sainz was eighth in the second session of the day, in what was a pointless one for him, but a costly one for Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc crashed heavily during FP2 resulting in a lot of damage to the rear of the car, resulting in a wait to see if any new components will be needed for the 24-year-old.
There is nothing of the sort to worry about for Sainz, who was very pleased with what was a “positive day” in Mexico City.
“In general, it was a positive day here in Mexico,” Sainz said to Sky Sports on Friday.
“We completed the two sessions without any issues and managed to change the car quite a lot between the sessions to test different approaches. It’s not an easy circuit, we’re naturally lacking downforce here due to the altitude but we’re having fun out there. We’ll try to put on a good show for everyone this weekend.”
The 28-year-old did produce one of the funniest moments of the day whilst topping FP1, after making a comical reply to his team over the radio.
During the morning session, AlphaTauri-bound Nyck de Vries stepped-in for George Russell at Mercedes for the first session, where at one point the Dutchman found himself behind Sainz.
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Sainz was informed that De Vries was behind, although, it wasn’t the Dutchman he thought was behind him.
“De Vries behind on an outlap,” said the engineer to Sainz.
“What? Debris?” hilariously replied the confused Spaniard.