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Carlos Sainz: Focus on mid-term goals helped “be a lot more relaxed” at McLaren

16:42, 22 Nov 2019

byBevan Youl

Carlos Sainz has said that the focus of his and McLaren’s mid-term goals have helped him “be a lot more relaxed” compared to the short-term focus he had at Toro Rosso and Renault.

Sainz entered Formula 1 back in 2015 with Toro Rosso as a Red Bull junior, staying there for the course of almost three seasons, achieving a then highest finish of P4 at Singapore in 2017 before a move to Renault with four races to go later that year.

The Spaniard only spent one season with Renault, helping them to a P4 constructors finish, before electing to sign for McLaren for 2019, proving to be the best option as he sits seventh in the drivers standings with one race to go, having claimed his first podium in Brazil finishing third.

But the focus from the team on the mid-term goals is what has helped increase performances due to Sainz being able to relax more throughout the season.

“My self-confidence and the confidence within the team, and their work approach that we have this year, I've been more [focused on] the mid-term project, not so much the short-term and having to perform like I was having to do in Toro Rosso and Renault,” Sainz said as quoted by Motorsport.com.

"That helped me also to combat those couple of difficult moments in the year, to be a lot more relaxed about it because it was not so much of a rush to prove myself.

"I always have a rush to get good results obviously, but thanks to that mid-term project and the way we're handling the year and everything, I thought it was easier to overcome them."