Carlos Sainz doesn't think challenging Pierre Gasly for P6 in the Drivers' standings is a realistic prospect.

The Spaniard was able to keep the Red Bull driver behind him after he had another poor start, moving to within just five points of the Frenchman after 12 races.

With Gasly now getting the big hurry up from his team, the pressure is mounting and given the performance advantage between the Red Bull and McLaren, Sainz is only focused on consolidating his place.

“I don’t think that’s going to last much, unfortunately, but it just shows how well we’re doing at the moment and how consistent we are since Baku,” he told Crash.net. “I don’t know how many points I’ve got, but it’s been incredible.

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“The first three races, we were very unlucky, things didn’t come together, but since Baku the hard work over the winter, the hard work that I spend in the factory in Woking, it’s just paying off a lot.

"We keep performing every weekend with great strategy, great pit stops, good on Sundays, and that’s how it should be and what we need to keep doing.”

This season has seen McLaren emerge as one of the big surprises, making big gains after a tough 2018 and currently sit fourth in the Constructors' standings, 39 points clear of Toro Rosso.

Looking forward, the main focus for Sainz is that the Woking-based outfit put itself in the best position possible to take another step forward in 2020.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to break out of the midfield in the second half of the season. We might bring a few tenths to the car which would be great, but everyone is going to bring them, so we need to be careful,” he said.

“What we need to make sure is that we learn the right steps to do on the car this year, and learn them from next year. I think that’s the main target for the second half of the season, learn about this car to make sure we put all the things in the right place for next year’s car.”