Sainz has "no rush at all" in McLaren contract renewal talks

As he enters the final year of his current contract at McLaren, Carlos Sainz has revealed he's already started negotiations for a new deal at the team although he added "there is no rush at all" to put pen to paper.

When moving to McLaren at the end of 2018, Sainz signed the first multiple-year deal of his F1 career. It turned out to be a good decision from McLaren as the Spaniard led the charge last season, finishing sixth in the drivers' championship while grabbing his maiden podium in Brazil as well.

Entering the final year of his two-year deal, Sainz already expressed his interest of staying with the Woking-based side into the new era of F1 in 2021. The windtunnel at the McLaren Technology Centre has been finished and the team should only be progressing in the upcoming years, and Sainz is keen to stay onboard to progress together with the team.

“Obviously it’s not a secret that I’m very happy here at McLaren,” the 25-year-old said at the MCL35's launch earlier this week when talking about a potential extension.

“There’s obviously been some things going on in the background, we started to talk already, but we’re going to take it easy as we’re in February, so there’s no rush at all.

“But I’m not going to hide that I’m very happy here, I have a lot of faith in this project and the way it’s panning out at the minute.”

Sainz's extension seems like a formality, although negotiations could drag out for a few more months.