Carlos Sainz acknowledges P4 was a flattering position for himself and McLaren in Canadian Grand Prix practice.
The Spaniard was helped by Lewis Hamilton hitting the wall and the two Red Bulls having their own issues to move up the pecking order.
Despite that, Sainz was still genuinely quick, only a third of a second off the pace set by Charles Leclerc and four-tenths clear of Kevin Magnussen in fifth.
“Obviously pretty happy with the day so far. I think we’ve probably had one of the best Fridays of the season, but still I don’t believe for a bit that we are fourth fastest,” he said post-session.
“I think we are definitely behind the top three teams. I guess I was getting comfortable with the car but probably tomorrow will be back to reality.”
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Friday though saw a few more upgrades brought to the MCL34 and Sainz was satisfied with the feeling.
“Yeah, everything is working as it should,” he said.
“We’ve tried some experimental stuff also on the car today. A lot of odd things, changing front wings, changing everything around just to try and find the optimum balance.
“There’s a lot to analyse today to see what was working well and what was not. So happy with the team experimenting stuff, trying stuff. It means we’re keen to move forward and that is what I want to see.”
During the afternoon session, a lot of drivers were complaining of tyre wear and graining with the softer compounds.
Temperatures were also quite high for Montreal, but the McLaren driver actually suggested that was beneficial.
“I think on this track, the high track temps actually help to get the tyres working so it was not an issue,” Sainz stated.
