McLaren striving to get Sainz to P6

McLaren boss Andreas Seidl says the team are targetting sixth place in the drivers’ championship for Carlos Sainz in 2019, but admits that Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly will have a say.

The Spaniard is currently seventh in the rankings for this season, but is only three points adrift of Gasly in sixth, while Albon is in eighth after that pair switched teams from Toro Rosso to Red Bull and vice versa.

Not content with simply being ‘best of the rest’, Seidl wants Sainz to break into the triopoly of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

“For the drivers championship clearly our target with Carlos is to score P6,” he said.

“There’s two main competitors which is Gasly and Albon. Albon is catching up quickly so hopefully we can keep this fight up as long as possible.”

Seidl credits Sainz for being a key player in the development of the McLaren car, saying he is impressed by his driver’s knowledge despite being relatively young.

Why McLaren weren't interested in Ferrari engine dealRead more

“Carlos, you could see straight away, the first time I met him, that he has experience already," the McLaren team principal explained.

"He has seen two other teams already in the past which brought him a lot of experience which he and then several seasons on his back already.

“So he was a key element in terms of guiding [and] driving the development of the car since his first test last year in Abu Dhabi.

“Sometimes when you hear him speaking you think he has an engineering degree as well. Which is great, but at the same time he is still young as well. He keeps learning and developing together with us as a team.”

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 star faces calendar nightmare after qualifying for race that clashes with Singapore GP

• Yesterday 23:15

Martin Brundle claims this F1 moment blew title race wide open

• Yesterday 22:27

The odd quirk F1 drivers will face at Bahrain Grand Prix

• Yesterday 21:42

Max Verstappen signs for Mercedes as F1 insider predicts every move in wild silly season

• Yesterday 20:54

Sky F1 star admits being 'overwhelmed' after shock TV exit

• Yesterday 19:42

Ferrari poach Mercedes F1 star as double signing ramps up title fight

• Yesterday 18:42