He also found time to have a quick look round the facilities. Arriving early in the morning, he was met by his race engineer, Marco Matassa, before being taken around to meet some of the staff who work on building the car he will race.

After a little media appointment, the seat fitting was carried out followed by some more meetings with the engineers. Then it was time to head off for Bologna airport and a flight to London as the next stop on the Sainz tour is the F1 simulator at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory.