Carlos Sainz Jr. says McLaren should be lifted by the pace of its MCL34 but remains cautious that its pace may not be so strong at front-limited circuits.
Sainz Jr. battled Red Bull’s Max Verstappen during the early stages of Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix though made contact with the Dutchman and slithered down the order with damage.
McLaren team-mate Lando Norris went on to record sixth place to claim his maiden points.
It marked McLaren’s best result in over a year.
“I am very encouraged about the pace of the car, about my feeling with my car,” said Sainz Jr.
“I think you could see in those first three or four laps how easily I could keep up with the Mercedes and the Red Bull. How easily I was [able to] attempt a move on Max at the earliest opportunity.
“So there is positives, there is a lot of positives to take. I still have a smile on my face because of that.
“I'm not going to let an accident like this one ruin my confidence because my confidence is really high at the moment.”
The nature of Bahrain’s circuit means it is a rear-limited venue but the next stop on the Formula 1 calendar – China – is front-limited.
Sainz Jr. believes that will be a proper test of McLaren’s progress.
“We need to go to front limited circuits because at the moment our car feels front limited and obviously a track like Bahrain which is rear limited played to our strengths,” he commented.
“So we need to be careful, we need to make sure we keep changing the balance of the car and when we get to a front limited track like China we are on top of it and keep being strong on different types of tracks.
“China is a completely different one to Bahrain and we need to keep pushing.”
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