Carlos Sainz has admitted that he feels that the rate of development that Constructors’ Championship rivals McLaren have shown this season could make it tough for the Italian outfit to maintain their sixth place in the standings.
After a very impressive weekend, the Red Bull junior driver finished in eighth place, just behind McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Alonso’s seventh means McLaren have closed the gap the Toro Rosso to just seven points, going into this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
“A solid race from us, holding up to the pace of the McLarens, so I’m very pleased with that.
“Obviously, Fernando got us at the start, and then it wasn’t possible to pass him, but I think he had a couple of tenths on us, and it was impossible to get closer than three seconds. I think he was controlling us.
“I think this track was suiting us decently, but McLaren has definitely got ahead of us. It’s a bit worrying knowing how much of the season is left, and their development rate.
“But we will try to compensate that and we will try to go as fast as possible and see if we can pull them back.
“Anyway, I think it was a very solid weekend from my side, so we can go to Germany and close the first half of the season really happy and confident in where we are at mid-season.”
Sainz also stated that the team would be bringing an upgrade to Hockenheim in an attempt to regain a lead over their rivals at McLaren.
“We have a step hopefully coming on in Germany. There we should do a step forward in performance.”
Sainz currently sits 10th in the Drivers’ Championship after an impressive start to the season, scoring points in every race he has finished with the exception of the Russia Grand Prix at Sochi, and leads teammate Daniil Kvyat by seven points.
