F1 News
Carlos Sainz hopes McLaren can "adapt better" than other teams
It has been announced that both McLaren drivers will continue to drive for the team for the 2020 season. Carlos Sainz will be entering his sixth Formula 1 season and will hope that McLaren continues to improve and become a contender for podium finishes. The team finished the 2018 season in 9th and are now 'best of the rest' in 4th.
Sainz spoke about the news of his drive for next season and about McLarens improvements.
"I always believed McLaren wouldn't be as far back as they were in 2018," he said. "I always believed that the lack of development they had in 2018 was to try and learn and put a better package for 2019.
"And the moment I spoke to the team back in August/September, I understood they more or less knew why they were going through such a struggle so the confidence was high that we weren't going to have such a bad year as 2018.
"What has pleasantly surprised me is that we have actually moved forward quite quickly from being in the middle of the midfield to suddenly having the last two weekends a very nice car to fight at the top of the midfield."
Sainz hopes that the team will become a genuine contender for the Championship in years to come.
"I definitely feel we can reduce the gap," he said. "Can we win a title any time soon? Time will tell because there are going to be a lot of changes in F1 and it will be about which team adapts better. But I do believe McLaren are putting in the right steps to at least give it a good go."
McLaren seems to be building something special and will hope to continue their momentum over the next few seasons.