Sainz ramps up work on Ferrari simulator ahead of 2021 F1 season

Carlos Sainz is set to have his first run on Ferrari’s simulator as he ramps up preparations ahead of the upcoming 2021 Formula 1 season.

Having made the switch from McLaren over the winter to partner Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, Sainz has now properly begun work with his new team at the Scuderia’s Maranello headquarters.

The Spaniard revealed he spent over six hours in meeting on Thursday and has been getting to know his new colleagues, including his engineering team, joking it will “tough” for him to learn “a lot of new names”.

Sainz will also get his first taste of a Ferrari car on the team’s simulator on Friday as he gears up for his debut season with the Italian outfit.

“Hello from Maranello,” Sainz said in a video shared by Ferrari on social media.

“I’m finally here, finally starting to work properly with all the engineers and all the people here. I’m obviously meeting a lot of new faces, a lot of new names that are going to be tough to learn but I’m getting there.

“Yesterday I had six hours and a half of meetings, which obviously was encouraging to see everyone working flat out for this year.

“Today for the first time, I am jumping in the simulator. So I will get to try for the first time the car, the simulator and start getting a bit of feedback and working hard for this season.”

Sainz was prevented from driving for Ferrari in the post-season test and is set to get just one-and-a-half days behind the wheel of the team’s 2021 car due to pre-season testing being limited to just three days.

In a bid to help get Sainz up to speed, Ferrari is aiming to schedule a day of running in older-spec machinery this month.

“Obviously we are planning to organise something for Carlos, to make sure he can speed up somehow his integration with the team, with the engineers, with the car, with our way of working, our procedures,” Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto explained.

“Simulator will be important in that respect… but yes, we are currently trying to organise January time eventually, to run with an old car, just to make sure again he gets used to the team and our procedures and know the people.”