In the wake of a woeful 2018 Formula 1 season, it's all change at McLaren on the driver front with Carlos Sainz leading the charge, the 'new boy' confident that the once mighty team has turned a corner and is upwardly mobile again.
A Red Bull driver for most of his career, 24-year-old Sainz lost out on a seat in the senior team for 2019 to Pierre Gasly which, in turn, opened the door at McLaren where superstar Fernando Alonso called it quits and a replacement was needed.
When a bid to lure Daniel Ricciardo to Woking failed, McLaren turned to Sainz and are hoping for a turnaround of fortunes despite fielding one of the youngest driver pairings on the grid, with teenage rookie Lando Norris in the sister car.
Speaking at the Autosport Show, Sainz is aware of the challenges but remains upbeat, "I’m quite sure that McLaren has hit a low point [in 2018] and they’re also going to get it better on the chassis so all those things combined. I expect to be in a better position with McLaren and hope and I think we have turned a corner."
The McLaren demise, over the past four to five years, is well chronicled and the off-season has been one of restructuring and reviving the struggling F1 operation. Reports of well-being and positive energy in the trenches at Woking abound.
Sainz is enthused by what he has found at his new team, he is also wary of expectations, "McLaren has a very clear plan which is hopefully in the near future is to go back to what McLaren has always been, which is a winning team. But it is a long term plan - we cannot get overexcited."
“We know we need to work hard, and we know that the team last year was really far away from [winning]. But we have sat down, we have seen together and know what we need to do to become bigger and stronger,” added Sainz.
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/06/27/john-barnard-mclaren-revival-like-turning-an-oil-tanker/
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