Carlos Sainz set the fifth fastest time (1:30.955) and clocked 68 laps at the wheel of the Williams FW47 in the first of three days of pre-season testing that is taking place this week in Bahrain.

Carlos drove in the afternoon session, which was one hour longer than usual and went on until 20:00 local time to make up for a power failure that prompted a stoppage of track activity.

The Spanish race driver had already briefly tested the FW47 on February 14th in a filming day in Silverstone, but today he shared the track with all the other cars and worked side by side with his new team.

Carlos ran mainly with the C2 and C3 tyre compounds in a day where the main focus was creating the baseline for the work that will follow in the remaining days. He didn’t have any setbacks and could fulfil his run plan.

The pre-season of the Spanish race driver will continue and finish tomorrow Thursday. He will drive the entire day, from 10:00 to 19:00 local time. His teammate Alexander Albon will take over on Friday, the last day.