F1 News
Ferrari engine "still a good step ahead" of other engines
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr. is happy with the progress the Renault engine has made, but the Spaniard still thinks Ferrari still are the engine manufacturer who have the most powerful engine on the grid.
After an unlucky start to the season which featured two straight DNF's and an early collision in China, Sainz has finally been able to string two strong performances together for McLaren, finishing seventh in Azerbaijan and eighth in his home Grand Prix in Spain.
McLaren has been allowed to perform well this season with that Renault power unit, and Sainz is wary of this, as the Woking-based team sits in fourth place in the constructors' championship.
"Renault has made progress definitely in terms of power," he told Autosport.
"You see pretty much in every track this year we are closer to the top."
However, the 24-year-old still sees one engine to be the strongest, and it's not the one of Mercedes, despite their historic start to the season.
"But there is still one engine that to me is excelling, which is the Ferrari engine in qualifying mode. It is still a good step ahead.
"Renault have made progress on the power side, the new [upgraded] engine is supposed to be progress on the reliability side, which is where we probably are at the weakest.
"But hopefully we will keep moving forward and bringing steps. Compared to last year we definitely have more power."
Sainz will know what he's talking about, having driven in Renault-powered cars his entire F1 career at Toro Rosso and at Renault, and now at McLaren.
