relationship has snowballed. McLaren created a
true unity last year and Sainz’s contribution was
fundamental. His accomplishments reached a
crescendowith a superb podium in Brazil from last
on the grid, and while he finished behind Gasly
that day he still beat him in the final reckoning.
Sainz appears to be thriving in the McLaren
stable and is clearly relishing the season ahead.
Whatever happens it seems unlikely he’ll go back
to Red Bull in the foreseeable future and, while
Ferrari could be interested if Vettel decides to pack
it in, Daniel Ricciardo currently has more boxes
ticked as aproven race winner and a Vettel-beater
from their year together at Red Bull in 2014.Would Toto Wolff go for Sainz if either Lewis
Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas leaveMercedes? Or
would he rather bank on George Russell whose
data has been studied and admired? Sainz has to
focus on the here and now, because developing
both his reputation and the deep integration with
McLaren will continueto push doors open.
From a solid base built in 2019 he needs to
demonstrate an extra edge of qualifying paceand
continue the raceconsistency. In doing so, he will
raise his profile another notch and it may bethat
in dropping him, RedBull has givenSainz greater
opportunities to become aworld champion outside
its grasp thanhe would ever have had within it.to go with Pierre Gasly. That worked well then.... Factors beyond
performance wouldhave influenced that decision. Integration,
teamwork, and cooperation all count; when Carlos and Max were
team-mates at Toro Rosso thosefactors were lacking. Each driver
wanted to swing the team in their own favour,
which led to a tricky atmosphere ina
tight-knit environment.
Marko feltthat Carlos Sr failed to look at
the situation objectively and did only what
was bestfor his son,but Jos Verstappenwas
doing much the same on the other side of the
garage. Red Bull presumably wanted to avoid
that complicated dynamic being repeated,
preferring to create a structure that would
allow Max to soar.
Released from theMarko mindset and
immersed at McLaren, Carlos embodied
all those other factorswith a vengeance.
At the new car launch in 2019, he actively
engagedwith the press, with team personnel
and new team-mate Lando Norris and thatGP RACING MARCH 2020 25FROM A SOLID BASE BUILT IN 2019 HE NEEDSTO
DEMONSTRATE AN EXTRA EDGE OF QUALIFYINGPACE
AND CONTINUE THERACE CONSISTENCY
relationship has snowballed. McLaren created a
true unity last year and Sainz’s contribution was
fundamental. His accomplishments reached a
crescendowith a superb podium in Brazil from last
on the grid, and while he finished behind Gasly
that day he still beat him in the final reckoning.
Sainz appears to be thriving in the McLaren
stable and is clearly relishing the season ahead.
Whatever happens it seems unlikely he’ll go back
to Red Bull in the foreseeable future and, while
Ferrari could be interested if Vettel decides to pack
it in, Daniel Ricciardo currently has more boxes
ticked as aproven race winner and a Vettel-beater
from their year together at Red Bull in 2014.Would Toto Wolff go for Sainz if either Lewis
Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas leaveMercedes? Or
would he rather bank on George Russell whose
data has been studied and admired? Sainz has to
focus on the here and now, because developing
both his reputation and the deep integration with
McLaren will continueto push doors open.
From a solid base built in 2019 he needs to
demonstrate an extra edge of qualifying paceand
continue the raceconsistency. In doing so, he will
raise his profile another notch and it may bethat
in dropping him, RedBull has givenSainz greater
opportunities to become aworld champion outside
its grasp thanhe would ever have had within it.to go with Pierre Gasly. That worked well then.... Factors beyond
performance wouldhave influenced that decision. Integration,
teamwork, and cooperation all count; when Carlos and Max were
team-mates at Toro Rosso thosefactors were lacking. Each driver
wanted to swing the team in their own favour,
which led to a tricky atmosphere ina
tight-knit environment.
Marko feltthat Carlos Sr failed to look at
the situation objectively and did only what
was bestfor his son,but Jos Verstappenwas
doing much the same on the other side of the
garage. Red Bull presumably wanted to avoid
that complicated dynamic being repeated,
preferring to create a structure that would
allow Max to soar.
Released from theMarko mindset and
immersed at McLaren, Carlos embodied
all those other factorswith a vengeance.
At the new car launch in 2019, he actively
engagedwith the press, with team personnel
and new team-mate Lando Norris and that
GP RACING MARCH 2020 25FROM A SOLID BASE BUILT IN 2019 HE NEEDSTO
DEMONSTRATE AN EXTRA EDGE OF QUALIFYINGPACE
AND CONTINUE THERACE CONSISTENCY