Sainz Jr.: Some F1 drivers need time to adapt

Carlos Sainz Jr.

Carlos Sainz Jr. has impressed with his move to McLaren as former team Renault battles to keep pace.

Others have tried and failed to get up to speed, with Red Bull pulling the pin on Pierre Gasly after a shocking start to life with the Milton Keynes outfit.

Sainz made way for Daniel Ricciardo, who has struggled to adapt to the Renault package after five years of a much more stable Red Bull chassis.

McLaren’s rise up the grid has been aided by the good form of Sainz and solid rookie Lando Norris, but Sainz – who is driving for his third team in five seasons – suggested outsiders underestimate the challenges of transition in Formula 1

“They are very different," Sainz said of Renault and McLaren.

“A lot more different than what people imagine. And the cars behave a lot more different than what people think.

“That’s why I think you’re seeing that every driver needs a few races to adapt to a team, to a car. We’ve seen it with Ricciardo this year, with Pierre, with every driver that has changed teams … [Ferrari’s Charles] Leclerc at the beginning of the year.

“You need a bit of time to find the secrets. And the teams work differently in every way, so it takes time and people underestimate how much performance you can extract from a package when you’ve been there more than one year.

“The performance that I was extracting from a Toro Rosso, that for me was not the midfield leader at any point, and sometimes being good with the Toro Rosso like I was in 2016, 2017, I only achieved it because of knowing my package and knowing how to exploit it."

“The key there was don’t overreact to the first races, just kept doing what I was doing. Then the luck turned around and the results start coming. Since Baku, it’s been a very strong season," Sainz said.

“It took me less time to adapt to the McLaren than it did to adapt to the Renault.

“We are still learning the car, and I am still learning. You saw in Silverstone in the car you can surprise now and then.

“From Australia, FP1, FP1, FP3 I was fast. In Bahrain, I was fast in qualifying, I was fighting Max for a top-five place. I was there throughout those races but somehow the results never clicked.

“But as soon as the result arrived in Baku, suddenly everything started coming together."