Carlos Sainz Jr. says he has found it easier to settle in to new surroundings at McLaren compared to when he linked up with previous team Renault.
Sainz Jr. spent almost three years with Toro Rosso prior to joining Renault in late 2017, on loan from the Red Bull scheme, and for 2019 switched to McLaren.
After a difficult start Sainz Jr. has emerged as one of Formula 1’s lead midfielders, and holds seventh in the standings, despite missing out on a point in Canada.
“Pretty much since testing I felt comfortable with the car, with the team, it hasn’t been a long period of adaptation with the team like it was at Renault,” he said.
“It took me a bit more time to get up to speed with the car, with everything.
“Here it’s been a lot straightforward. And here in this team I feel they’re listening to my feedback.
“Every time I have a comment on car direction or car development that I would like to go to immediately, one week later I have people from the factory calling and asking what I would prefer.
“I feel I’m being listened a lot and the car is following the direction that I’m receiving. I thank the team on that side as they’re giving me a lot of opportunity to develop also.”
Sainz Jr. was nonetheless full of praise for the engine gains made by Renault for 2019, though accepts he will face a grid penalty, likely before the summer break, due to early setbacks.
“I think there’s definitely things to be positive about this year’s engine,” said the Spaniard.
“We definitely had a tough start to the season with reliability, I’m already on my third power unit on race seven and we cannot be proud of that.
“I’m probably going to take a penalty before the summer which is not good news.
“But on the performance side there is finally a step I’ve seen Renault making that I haven’t seen in the last few years.
“So that’s made us more competitive on the straights. It’s made me do more overtaking moves in Barcelona that in the car I couldn’t do. We also have an efficient car that works well.”
