Sainz after double P3 on Friday: Times are "misleading"

After finishing third in both Free Practice sessions on Friday in his Renault, Carlos Sainz has revealed that those sessions were "a bit misleading" as the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari didn't try to hot-lap during those sessions.

The Spaniard beat his teammate Nico Hülkenberg in both practice rounds as the Renaults finished third and fourth on both occasions, only allowing the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in front of them. Behind them were the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, but Sainz explained that this is no indication of what the pace actually looks like.

“I think the timesheets are a bit misleading because you see Force India, you see Toro Rosso, you see Sauber particularly close to us still, half a tenth to one tenth, but then you see Ferrari and Mercedes are nowhere,” Sainz told GPfans.

Mercedes and Ferrari were both practising longer runs, with both teams opting to run with the harder ultrasoft tyres to see what their race-pace would look like. In FP1, Mercedes were clocking in half a second quicker than the Italian team per lap, but that could all still change. The way Sainz saw it was that both teams were not comfortable out there in Mexico City.

“They were struggling also in the long runs," he explained.

“[That is] the only reason for me to think that tomorrow things are going to turn.