Carlos Sainz: "We’re ready for the challenge"

It was largely a tough FP1 and FP2 for McLaren in Russia with neither driver finishing in the top ten in either session. Lando Norris ended up in 16th and 11th in the two sessions while Carlos Sainz also endured a tough session, coming through in 11th and 17th.

Sainz ended up just outside of the points last weekend in Singapore after finishing in P12 but has endured a positive season to date, standing 7th in the drivers' standings, just 11 behind Pierre Gasly.

“Challenging Friday during both sessions today," Sainz said.

"We attempted to try different set-ups which didn’t work and traffic ruined our best attempts.

"We aren’t where we want and we have work ahead of us this evening.

“However, we’re ready for the challenge, even if the weekend looks difficult today. Conditions will be different tomorrow with a high possibility of rain – so let’s see what we can do.”

With just six races remaining this season, McLaren will be looking to consolidate on their 4th place in the current standings, where they're 22 points ahead of Renault.