Sainz warns: 'They are the ones we have to reckon with in the future'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
McLaren, after some difficult years with Honda as an engine supplier, have found the way up again in cooperation with Renault. This year they will be using the ever-reliable Mercedes engines and if the car is even better than last year, they could become a serious threat at the top. Departed McLaren driver Carlos Sainz sees a bright future for the team.
Coming from afar
New rules will be introduced from 2022 and this could shake up the whole field. With the road up again, Sainz expects to play a serious role, especially as they have come a long way. For example, he told Motorsport-Total.com: "I feel this team has come from far, far, far away since the test in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2018," when Sainz first took to the track with the McLaren.
"The group here is as strong as can be," Sainz says of the team he has left. "But at the same time, I think the team has prepared well for 2022 when the big rules reform is coming." That preparation should lead to a "much more specific and established structure."
"It will be a force to be reckoned with in the future," which is to be expected now that they will be running reliable Mercedes engines. Having left the team behind to join Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc, he looks back on his time with the team with pride.
Sainz: "They wanted the team to progress. Everyone showed full commitment and that momentum carried us through the first year into the second. I'm proud to have been part of that. I will definitely take the memory with me."