Sainz critical of car: 'We have an inherent problem'

Carlos Sainz admits he still has much to improve despite some great results. Speaking to the BBC Sainz discusses his own shortcomings and the problems with the car, which is why his championship is not focused on Red Bull but on Mercedes.

With his victory at Silverstone, Sainz can call himself a race winner for the first time in his Formula 1 career since this season. Despite this, he is still lagging slightly behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who is currently almost seventy points above Sainz in the standings. Sainz's talent is obvious, but he is not yet able to turn it into results during the races. Due to an exceptionally high number of crashes and small errors on track, Sainz has already missed out on many points this season.

The Spaniard himself also acknowledges that there is still a lot of room for improvement. "The race execution has been a weaker point of mine compared to the past," Sainz said. "This year, we are struggling a lot with tyre management. It's more difficult to be flexible, and it doesn't open up as many strategy choices as I would like to have or as I had in the past with McLaren."

'We are not getting away well enough'

The car is also far from cooperating, notes Sainz. Team-mate Leclerc is equally struggling with tyre management and the start is not always easy either. "The starts with this car, for some reason, have been extremely difficult and we have an inherent problem that doesn't allow us to get off the line as well as in previous years. These are points I am going to work on in the final races and into next season to be more complete."

With just two races and a sprint race to go, Sainz finds himself in sixth place in the championship. Theoretically, he could still clinch the fourth spot, but to do so he would have to pass both Mercedes drivers, at four and 19 points ahead respectively.