Breaking news
Formula 1
Sainz doubts McLaren will break out of F1 midfield in 2019
Carlos Sainz thinks McLaren's progress this year will still not be enough for it to escape the midfield battles over the remainder of the campaign.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Sep 9, 2019, 11:46 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Although the Woking-based outfit is in a solid fourth place in the constructors' championship, Sainz is sceptical of the team being able to make enough gains in the short term to shake off its nearest rivals.
"I don't think we are going to be able to break out of the midfield in the second half of the season," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about his predictions for the second half of the year.
"We might bring a few tenths to the car which will be great, but everyone else is going to bring them, so we need to be careful.
"What we need to make sure is that we learn the right steps to do on the car this year and learn them for next year. That is the main target for the second half of this season: learn about this car to make sure that we put all the things in the right place for next year's car."
Read Also:
Sainz's view on the prospects for the remainder of 2019 have been backed by his team boss Andreas Seidl, who thinks that despite his team's solid standing in the constructors' standings that the outfit must not imagine it is in the clear yet.
"We have seen how quickly it can change and we have seen how close the others are in the race, so in the end it will depend upon track layouts and temperatures and things like that," he explained.
"It will also depend on how much more updates everyone will bring in the second half of the season and when everyone switches to next year's car.
"But it is good to have this gap at the moment in the points standing. For us it is important to not get carried away with that. It's heads down and make sure we keep fighting."
Although sceptical about the gains possible for this year, Sainz says the pace of the McLaren over a long stint in Hungary – when at a certain stage it was faster than Ferrari – has given tremendous cause for optimism.
"I was told on the radio that on the last five laps [of the first stint] we were faster than the Ferraris, so everybody was getting pumped up," he said.
"We are starting to see some progress on the car with the tyre management, so that last part of that first stint has given us hopes and ambition to know that we can keep closing on the top guys."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article McLaren’s F1 progress crucial to IndyCar expansion
Next article Four good races doesn't mean "everything is fantastic" in F1
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Carlos Sainz Sr
Carlos Sainz sends heartfelt message to dad Carlos Sainz Sr ahead of Dakar Rally
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
Carlos Sainz sends heartfelt message to dad Carlos Sainz Sr ahead of Dakar Rally
Carlos Sainz Sr drops out of FIA presidency race
General
General
Carlos Sainz Sr drops out of FIA presidency race
Sebastien Ogier throws support behind possible Carlos Sainz Sr FIA presidency bid
WRC
WRC
Rally Portugal
Sebastien Ogier throws support behind possible Carlos Sainz Sr FIA presidency bid
More from
McLaren
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
McLaren held fresh talks after Singapore GP clash as Lando Norris promises to "make better decisions"
Latest news
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
5 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
6 h
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe