Sainz: Hulkenberg would win in Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull

In 156 Grand Prix starts, Hulkenberg has never celebrated on the F1 podium let alone win a race and yet, despite this, he remains one of the more respected drivers on the grid.

Last year Sainz was well beaten by his teammate, Hulkenberg out-qualifying the Spaniard 13 to 9 in and outscored him 69 points to 53 in the championship standings.

Sainz, who made his debut for Renault late in 2017 at the United States Grand Prix, rates Hulkenberg highly and told Marca, "The year I arrived at Renault, Nico was already enjoying a very strong season, he was operating at the highest level I've seen."

"For me, he's one of those guys you give him a Mercedes, a Ferrari or a Red Bull, and he would win races right away. We might never know, but that's the way of Formula 1 works."

"I have learned a lot from Nico and I will go to McLaren with that experience, having shared a team with one of the most talented drivers on the grid at this time," added Sainz, who has been signed by McLaren for this season after being deemed excess to requirements at Red Bull.

Sainz and rookie Lando Norris will spearhead the once mighty Woking outfit as they seek redemption this forthcoming season after too many years in the doldrums.

One cannot dispute that Sainz learnt from Hulkenberg but did not beat him, hence apparent that both Renault and Red Bull do not have enough faith in him to hang on to his services.

Red Bull opted to promote Pierre Gasly rather than have Sainz return to the team to partner Max Verstappen, reasoning they were afraid of a civil war in the bullpen between the two who were teammates at Toro Rosso before Verstappen was promoted to the senior team.

In their 'wisdom' rather than go for the Spaniard they opted for the French hothead who is equally likely to taunt their Dutch superstar, perhaps even more so than Sainz.

Meanwhile, Renault chose to pursue a Top Gun, in the form Daniel Ricciardo and opted to keep Hulkenberg over Sainz because the German, a journeyman, is simply better.

Although few are saying as much about it, McLaren stepped in to rescue 24-year-old's career, at the behest of greener pastures bound Fernando Alonso, by pairing him with teenage rookie Lando Norris.

Sainz's maiden season with McLaren is a watershed year for him as he who has to stand and deliver, raise his game to that of team leader and trounce his rookie teammate, anything less will prove his doubters right.

McLaren team chief Zak Brown anticipates good things, "Carlos has great experience, a great racing pedigree, while still being very much youthful. So we have a good, young driver line-up that we intend to keep for many, many years."

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/01/18/sainz-i-think-mclaren-has-turned-a-corner/