Carlos Sainz feels ‘back at home’ in wet conditions after poor Singapore showing

Carlos Sainz said he felt “back in the rhythm” when it came to wet conditions after a difficult showing last time out in Singapore.

The Spaniard may have finished third at Marina Bay circuit but looked well off the pace of his team-mate Charles Leclerc and race winner Sergio Perez.

The performance was a puzzling one given Sainz’s history of performing well during wet conditions but it seemed that for whatever reason, he struggled, going on to finish 10 seconds behind his team-mate.

The first day of practice at Suzuka provided the Ferrari man with an instant chance to get back in the groove when it came these conditions with rain restricting both sessions to the intermediate or wet tyres.

Sainz finished second in FP1 before a P6 finish in FP2 and said he felt “back at home” in these conditions.

“It’s always interesting running in the wet because I feel like you can still learn something and you can always learn something from the car from the driving, especially after a wet Singapore,” he told F1.com.

“I love it [the wet conditions]. That’s why it was important for me after a difficult race in Singapore in these conditions to really try and get back on top of the car today and see if I could find my rhythm again which was important

“We managed to do so, I was quick and I’m feeling back at home again.”

It was put to him that Red Bull may find a wet track more difficult which could allow Ferrari to take advantage but Sainz stressed that the Milton Keynes-based outfit have shown an ability to be quick on any kind of track.

“I think Red Bull are quick everywhere. Wet, dry, slow, fast circuits. Straights, slow speed. They’re quick everywhere with the package they have now.

“But we are also very quick so it will be a matter of who nails the weekend and who has that last tenth, two tenths advantage over the other.”

Sainz’s team-mate Leclerc did well to avoid a crash in FP2 as he skidded towards the barrier, he later joked that while FP1 was good, FP2 was “less fun.”

“FP1 was fun, Fp2 no tyres left so less fun,” he said. “But overall it was quite a good day. The feeling with the car is good. We just need to put everything together tomorrow.

“I think FP2 was very, very difficult because the tyres were just completely done but there’s plenty to learn from today for the race especially.

“It’s a positive Friday and let’s see tomorrow because conditions will change a lot. So FP3 will be all about adapting to those conditions as quickly as possible and let’s see what’s possible.”

Read more: Ferrari want wins to build for 2023, resigned to Max Verstappen taking the title