Sainz upbeat on Ferrari move despite problems
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
McLaren's Carlos Sainz during yesterday's practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He says he is "100 per cent confident" in his new team, Ferrari.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MONZA • Spanish driver Carlos Sainz says he has no qualms about moving from McLaren to Ferrari next year despite the Italian team's struggles this season.
Formula One managing director Ross Brawn wrote in a column this week that the 26-year-old "must be nervous about his prospects" after Ferrari's dismal showing last weekend in Belgium, where Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished 13th and 14th respectively.
Sainz, who will be replacing four-time world champion Vettel at Maranello, told reporters at Ferrari's home Italian Grand Prix on Thursday that, given the option, he would sign up 100 times over.
"I'm very comfortable with the decision I've taken," he emphasised. "I'm 100 per cent confident in Ferrari and in what they can do.
"Last year they were capable of doing seven pole positions so it's a team that I think knows how to produce very good cars.
"I'm fully confident, I'm ready to go for Ferrari next season. I think it is such a unique experience and such a special place for an F1 driver that I don't think there's ever going to be a bad time where you say, 'I do not want to go to Ferrari'."
Sainz, who was unable to start in Belgium due to a power unit problem, is 22 points behind British teammate Lando Norris (45) after seven races, but still two places ahead of 13th-placed Vettel (16).
Lewis Hamilton leads the standings on 157 points and the Briton has said he saw a clampdown on engine modes as a compliment to his dominant Mercedes team.
Teams must now run their engines in the same mode in qualifying and the race after the International Automobile Federation issued a directive aimed at making it easier to monitor power units. Previously, drivers could use different modes for performance when needed, particularly in qualifying.
Mercedes have started all seven races on pole position and won six, with Hamilton on top five times.
"What's crazy is this switch, they've said it's for one reason and then you've got Red Bull who came out and said, 'No, no, we were going after them to hold them back'," he told Sky Sports television. "So someone is not telling the truth. All we can do is just smile and keep working hard. I think (it) is a compliment at the end of the day."
REUTERS
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Practice 3 (5.55pm) & qualifying (8.30pm) - Singtel TV Ch114 & StarHub Ch208
