Sainz says McLaren are 'back in the mix' in a 'tight' midfield

Carlos Sainz has praised McLarens progress and claims that they are 'back in the mix' after a poor 2018. The McLaren performed well during qualifying but unfortunately for Sainz, his race was cut short when his engine blew up. Despite this, there seems to be a positive environment at the team and they truly believe that they have got past the struggles of previous years. 

Having moved from Renault to McLaren Sainz is in a good position to talk about the midfield of Formula 1. 

“I think the team ended last year far from the midfield, like three or four tenths I would say," Sainz said to RaceFans. "It looks like we’ve put ourselves back in the mix after the winter which shows an incredible job that the factory and the team has done over winter testing.

“After Barcelona [testing] we were not so sure that Q3 was possible but I think [Australia] has proved since the first laps in Q1. For me particularly in Q1, I felt maybe we had a chance, maybe it’s happening, maybe we can get McLaren back to Q3. I think it’s since Monaco last year that it didn’t happen. So it just shows the progress that the team is doing.”

“It doesn’t mean we’re going to be in Q3 in Bahrain and China. But it means that we have put ourselves back in the mix and it’s now a matter of nailing laps, nailing procedures, nailing the set-up for each track because the midfield is as tight as always.”

McLaren will hope that they can finish both cars in Bahrain as they look to re-establish themselves as one of Formula 1's best teams.