Binotto now expects 'faultless weekends' from 'strong driver' Sainz

Carlos Sainz is not that old yet at 26 years old, but he has already driven for a number of Formula 1 teams in his career. He made his debut together with Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso, but when Red Bull didn't have a seat for him the Spaniard decided to switch to Renault. From there he joined McLaren to form a strong team with rookie Lando Norris. Sainz' dream came true last year when he was approached by Ferrari, where he is expected to fill the gap that Sebastian Vettel left.

Error-free weekends

Sainz is doing quite well so far. He is 3 points above teammate Charles Leclerc in the championship and already managed to score a few podiums. Still team boss Mattia Binotto isn't completely satisfied. He told Motorsport.com: "What I expect from him in the second half of the season is what he has already said. He hasn't had a weekend without mistakes, there's always one somewhere. Whether it's qualifying, the start or in the race itself."

"I expect him to keep learning about the team, to understand the car better. Hopefully, then he can put in a full weekend with no mistakes soon. I think that is very important for him," said Binotto. The Italian is therefore far from surprised by Sainz's strong performance: "I'm not surprised when we made him an offer we knew he was a strong driver, that he can race really well and that he can perform very consistently."

Verstappen

"He is also fast, he has proven that since the beginning of his F1 career. We shouldn't forget that in his first season at Toro Rosso he was competing against Max [Verstappen]. He did very well then as well. Last year was exactly the same with Lando, he did extremely well and we all know how strong Lando is. He's showing it again this season, so that doesn't surprise us at all," said the Ferrari team boss.