Carlos Sainz Jr. admitted he is “not the happiest man” at having to miss the opening first practice session for the second successive Grand Prix.
Formula 2 racer Sean Gelael has been afforded four practice runs with Toro Rosso this year, alongside test outings, and Sainz Jr. sat out FP1 in Singapore to make way for Gelael.
Sainz Jr. will again step aside for Gelael on Friday in Malaysia, and expressed frustration at the situation.
“Let’s say that I’m not the happiest man, knowing that I will, for the second consecutive time, miss free practice one,” he said.
“Obviously at Singapore it turned out to be good because we still managed to get into Q3 and P4.
“But in a tougher weekend like Malaysia when I expect to have more [work] to do in FP1, FP2, FP3…
“Hopefully like in Singapore we can do our best and come back strong like we did there.”
Sainz Jr. added that Toro Rosso must grasp the chances that comes its way if it is to capture fifth place in this year’s Constructors’ Championship.
Toro Rosso holds sixth position but closed the gap to Williams to just seven points in Singapore, courtesy of fourth spot for Sainz Jr.
“We know that our pace at the moment is not the fastest of the midfield,” he said.
“We also know that on Sundays we have our little chances to score extra points and we need to make sure that whenever there’s a chance – like in Singapore – to score good points we do it.
“Tthat’s what makes the difference in the midfield, when you have a race where you can score a lot of points.
“So hopefully, together with Pierre [Gasly], we can achieve that target, also keeping an eye on Renault, McLaren behind us in the championship who are definitely starting to come on very strong towards the end of the season.”
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