Sainz looking at no other team but McLaren

Carlos Sainz

Sainz looking at no other team but McLaren

Why would he leave a team on an upward trend?

Martin Macdonald

Wednesday 27 November 2019 10:00

Carlos Sainz says that even though it is “very, very early” to be discussing team options for 2021, at the moment he is looking nowhere but McLaren due to the team’s strong return to form this season.

Alongside rookie driver Lando Norris, Sainz has impressed behind the wheel for McLaren, taking the team to fourth in the constructors’ championship and the moniker of ‘best of the rest’ behind Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

Indeed, former world champion Nico Rosberg recently said that only Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were current better drivers on the grid than Sainz, but the Spaniard himself currently sees his future with McLaren despite speculation that one of the elite teams could come calling.

Article continues under video

"For as long as I've been in this team, it's been a constant upwards curve," Sainz told Motorsport.com.

"That is obviously a very attractive thing to have and not something that you see a lot in Formula 1.

"I am very happy and very proud of what this team is doing. It's obviously very, very early to think about 2021 but it's not a secret that I'm very happy in this team.

"I think both parties are very happy with each other and at the moment for me there's nowhere else to look around."

Sainz credits former team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who will leave F1 after the next race in Abu Dhabi, as aiding his development into one of the star drivers of 2019.

Renault pay tribute to departing HulkenbergRead more

"The year next to Nico helped me quite a lot to learn things from an experienced driver," he explained.

"Previous to that all my teammates had been one-year experience in Formula 1 so actually to have a year next to Nico helped me to learn a couple of new things for myself.

"Coming into McLaren I knew I was ready for the challenge, the way I understand car balance, the way to develop it, the speed that I knew that I had in Toro Rosso and in Renault.

"It was just a matter of getting into this team, feeling comfortable immediately and then the results would take care of themselves. There was nothing really that I was afraid of or anything."

The Spaniard recently claimed his first podium spot within F1 after the original third-placed driver, Lewis Hamilton, was given a time penalty after a collision with Alex Albon at the Brazil GP.