Sainz: McLaren 'has to be happy' with opening day of testing

McLaren's Carlos Sainz says his team "has to be proud and happy" after its opening day of pre-season testing which saw the Spaniard book the second fastest time on Monday.

Sainz concluded his day 0.397 seconds behind pace setter Sebastian Vettel following a good effort in the last half hour of the session and with help of a set of Pirelli super soft tyres.

With the exception of a minor issue that halted Sainz's MCL34 at the end of the pitlane in the afternoon, it was a productive 119 laps for McLaren and its new recruit.

• McLaren: Seidl solely focused on F1 and moving team forward

“I think everyone in the team has to be proud, has to be happy," said Sainz.

"The hard work over the winter, the plan we put together to have the car early for the presentation and to be out on track at nine o'clock [has paid off].

"This afternoon we completed some long runs, we finished the day with the red flags at six o'clock.

"So it was definitely a good way to start, and definitely people here at the track are happy. But we must not forget all the people back at Woking who are the main ones who put together this car."

Sainz praised his team's entire workforce, underlining the quality and professionalism that he has seen at McLaren since day 1.

"Well, I realise the quality there is at McLaren since the day I arrived at the team," he added.

"That has never been a question, and even before arriving at the team, I had a lot of trust in this team.

"In six years you cannot forget how to make fast cars, although we are still far away from where we want to be.

"But I like when I see the car, the attention to detail; the steering, how the seat is done. You can see there is professional people, tidy people, a clean atmosphere and I definitely like that.

"Although, in performance as I said, we are still not where we want to be and a long way to go."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter