Herbert: Sainz is smarter than Verstappen

The former F1 driver made waves in Bahrain recently, when he urged Fernando Alonso to take the opportunity of his chest injuries to quit Formula 1.

And now he has bucked the trend of predicting a rapid promotion to Red Bull next year for Max Verstappen by urging the energy drink outfit to in fact give the seat to his Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz.

"Both are very good and very fast," Herbert told the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. "As I said before, they're the future. I think Carlos is smarter than Verstappen, I see him using his head better, perhaps because Max is younger, but both are very good."

"But looking ahead, if I had to sign one of the two, I would choose Sainz. If the decision is taken by Helmut Marko then I don't know what will happen, because sometimes his decisions with the drivers are a bit strange," Herbert said.

Verstappen and Sainz now head to the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2016 F1 World Championship, the Dutchman with 13 points on his scorecard and the Spaniard on four.

Speaking ahead of the weekend in Shanghai: Verstappen said: “I like China, I remember I had some good overtakes there! The first four corners of the circuit, Turns 1 to 4, are a very special part and tricky to get right.

“Another part of the track that I enjoyed last year was Turn 6… I did a good move there! I couldn't overtake Perez on the straight, so I had to do it somewhere else… I got a good exit out of Turn 5 and, approaching Turn 6, where you normally brake late – as it's a hairpin – I managed to overtake him by braking even later than usual. It's a big relief when you finally get passed a rival and I was very happy.

“Turns 7, 8, 9 and 10 are hard on the tyres, so you have to save the rears a bit to get good traction out of there. Another thing I remember from this circuit are the overtakes at Turn 14 – I prepared myself well down the long straight each time and in the end managed to get by from very far!

"Unfortunately, last year I had a little issue on the main straight with only a few laps to go… And had to retire. I will try not to think about it this year and fight to see the chequered flag in the best possible position," concluded Verstappen.

In the Toro Rosso Shanghai preview: “In China, you drive down the main straight and arrive to a couple of very long corners, Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4, which actually feel like two corners, not four. It's quite a special section and it's where I had my first mistake of the season last year, as I spun. I also remember going side by side with four cars at Turn 6 at the start of the race, which was interesting as its tight there! Turn 7 is only flat in quali.

“From Turns 7 to 10 there are a lot of changes of direction before arriving to a second long corner, Turns 12 and 13, that take you to the back straight – it's exactly like the first corner of the track, but in the opposite direction. I also recall the back straight being a very long one, but DRS helps a lot to overtake. Arriving to Turn 14 is one of the toughest braking zones; it's very bumpy and difficult to get a reference point.

“Finally, I'd like to mention the massive downhill as you exit the last corner into the main straight. It's something you don't realize when watching on TV, but the car bounces off quite a lot there. All in all, an interesting track where I hope to score some good points, something I haven't been able to do yet this season," added Sainz.