Carlos Sainz’s McLaren contract stability allowed chance to show “new Carlos”

Sainz made the move to McLaren at the end of 2018, having raced for Renault for a season and a bit from 2017 after being part of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s setup at Toro Rosso since his rookie season in 2015.
 
But the Spaniard signed a two-year contract with the Woking based team, leaving him to not have to worry about his future, which he believes brought a “new” version of himself.
 
"I think this stability has given me a chance to show a bit of a new Carlos, that maybe the paddock in general or many people hadn't seen," said Sainz as quoted by Motorsport.com.

"I knew that was inside, I just needed the right environment, I guess, and the right mindset.
 
"I never had that [security]. So even if you don't feel it, and you don't want [to think about it], there's that pressure to bring results now.”

Sainz says that the reassurance of knowing he was going to be at McLaren for the future allowed him to change his driving to be more aggressive.

"There's been a few changes that I've made from '18 to '19, that for sure have helped, but mainly having that stability, having that extra confidence to go for moves, you know, for the move on Max [Verstappen] in Bahrain, that maybe before I would have thought twice about it,” he added.

"Because I need to bank in this P5 or P6 that I am at the moment - it is a very good result for me - let's not attack Max so much, because he's anyway gonna beat me at the end of the race.

"[I had] this kind of mentality of 'no, I'm just gonna push, I'm just going to try and do the best I can', because I'm I have finally a bit of stability and a bit of a place where I can be myself more often."