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Sainz has lots of trust in McLaren to recover from slump

Sainz has "lots of trust" in McLaren to recover from slump

05-01-2019 11:30
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Bobby Vincent

Carlos Sainz Jr. has emphasised that he has "lots of trust" in his new McLaren team to recover from its current form and rekindle the sort of form that had them as one of the leading contenders in Formula 1.

Sainz spent 2018 at Renault, and had a previous spell with Toro Rosso, but has now linked up with McLaren, in the middle of a tricky run.

McLaren have not won a grand prix since 2012, and it has raced in 99 races without achieving a podium finish.

The Woking-based team finished sixth in last year's Constructors' Championship; having really struggled with reliability in the second half of the season, especially.

"I think I want to see better results than (2018)," Sainz told MotorsportWeek, when speaking about targets for 2019. "They also want to see it. Also evolution through the year. It's a bit of everything.

"McLaren is perfectly capable of that. That's why I'm going there. I have a lot of trust in them; I have a lot of trust in the second most successful ever F1 team. They've won, hopefully they will remember how to do it, and little by little in a mid-term project they (will) start going back to the top."

However, Sainz Jr. stressed that he is taking his move to McLaren as a long-term project.

"I am in a two-year commitment with them," he added. "I want, as a driver, but also as a fan because I am a McLaren fan, to see the team going forward. So, if we manage to get a good first year and a good head-start on how things are going to evolve I really think I can create a family out of McLaren and spend a few years there.

"That's my target, at the moment. I'm going there year-by-year, but also thinking about trying to be one of the key factors helping McLaren go back to the top. Because of that I'm extremely motivated, I'm extremely looking forward to it."