Sainz: Not ideal to be outside the top ten

Carlos Sainz has admitted it is far from ideal being outside of the top ten during the opening day of practice sessions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Sainz finished down in 17th in FP1 setting a fastest time of 1:40.687s, over three seconds off the pace and one second down on his teammate, Lando Norris. However, in the second session of the day he moved up to 11th, with a best time of 1:37.834s.

McLaren have already wrapped up the best of the rest position in the Constructor' Championship but Sainz still has to fight to secure sixth in the drivers' equivalent.

Despite a mixed day, Sainz insists they can claw back some time ahead of FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.

“A decent Friday in terms of running but obviously just a bit outside the top 10, which is not ideal. The field seems to have tightened even more this weekend and the battle to lead the midfield tomorrow will be tough," Sainz told the McLaren website.