Sainz painless but admits 'impossible to feel 100%'

Carlos Sainz has admitted that whilst he has "no pain" following his recent surgery to have his appendix removed, it is "impossible to feel 100%".

The Ferrari driver qualifying alongside Max Verstappen on the front row was one of the big talking points from Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix, given that he missed qualifying and the race in Saudi Arabia so that he could undergo surgery.

Sainz has worked tirelessly since his surgery to ensure that he is fit for this weekend at the Albert Park Circuit, although Ferrari has been forced to make modifications to his cockpit to ensure he can drive as comfortably as possible.

Despite not feeling perfect, the Spaniard was relieved that the adrenaline allowed him to push; however, he recognises that Sunday is the real physical challenge.

"As I said at the beginning of the weekend, I don't feel 100%," Sainz conceded. "I think it's impossible to feel 100% after spending seven to 10 days in bed like I did just trying to recover.

"But the good thing, you know, is that I had no pain. I just have the discomfort, and obviously everything feels a bit weird inside, but I can push. Especially today, I could push flat out. Yesterday, I took it easy at the beginning, had to do some tweaks to the seat, to the belts, to the brake pedal.

"But today, you know, when the adrenaline came up in quali and I could close the visor and go for it, I could go for it, which is a good thing.

"So yeah, hopefully tomorrow I still do another step of recovery, putting a lot of emphasis on physiotherapy and recovery, you know, these days. All of it is focused around it and hopefully tomorrow I can be OK."

'There is no pain'

Ahead of returning to his SF24 this weekend, Sainz received advice from Williams' Alex Albon, who had his appendix removed during the 2021 Italian Grand Prix – Nyck de Vries replaced him.

Whilst the 29-year-old failed to give great depth as to how he is being affected in the cockpit, he did admit that G-Force feels very odd.

"Without going into too much detail, as I said, I feel like… It's exactly what Alex [Albon] told me before jumping in the car," Sainz said.

"He said when he got his appendix removed, just with the G-Force, everything in the inside just feels like it's moving more than normal and you need some confidence to brace the core and the body as you used to do before, but you get used to it.

"It's something that you... There is no pain. There is nothing to worry about. It's just a weird feeling that you have to get used to while driving, especially these circuits. We're pulling 5 or 6 Gs in some of the brakings and some of the corners.

"So yeah, obviously, everything is moving. But as I said, without pain, and I can deal with it, and I can adapt to it also."