His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc was quickest in the daylight of Free Practice 1, before Sainz set the fastest time of the day under the lights in FP2 at 1m32.120s, 0.018s quicker than Leclerc and George Russell (Mercedes).
Leclerc and Sainz set the pace from the early running on hard tyres, Leclerc lapping in 1m35.683s on the revised track layout.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton beat that with 1m35.571s, then Lando Norris lapped his revised McLaren in 1m34.776s on medium rubber to take the top spot.
Wayward lizards then interrupted the session, the first appearing in sector two just after half distance and causing a yellow flag. After that, teams switched to softs, with Sainz producing 1m33.944s before Norris set 1m33.522s.
Leclerc set the session-best 1m33.350s with 20 minutes remaining, before Sainz improved to 1m33.428s to make it a Ferrari 1-2 ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) on 1m33.476s.
Norris ended up fourth from Hamilton, Russell, Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
Sainz and Leclerc set the early pace once more, with the Spaniard lapping in 1m34.150s on mediums. Alonso was the first to dip into the 1m33s bracket with 1m33.964s, before Sainz regained the top spot with 1m33.303s, half a second clear of Leclerc.
Leclerc pushed again after 20 minutes and produced 1m32.974s on mediums to nab P1, before teams switched to softs just before the halfway point. Sainz improved to 1m32.120s with Leclerc just 0.018s slower with 1m32.138s.
Russell was third quickest, despite a huge moment at the final corner, ahead of Alonso, Hamilton and Norris.
The Red Bulls didn’t show their hand, with Verstappen down in seventh, three quarters of a second off the pace but a tenth clear of Perez, who complained of a lack of rear-end grip. Sainz almost ran into the back of Verstappen at one point.
There were no lizard sightings in this session.
Source: Autosport