2019 McLaren driver Carlos Sainz does believe the British team will move back up the pecking order having hit the ‘bottom’ this season.
From the giddy heights of Fernando Alonso beating a Red Bull in Australia and scoring points in the first five races, McLaren has struggled for development leaving them near the back of the grid fighting with Williams.
Sainz, who will replace the retiring two-time world champion, isn’t concerned about the lack of current performance, however.
“I think they are doing their homework now,” he was quoted by F1i.com. “They hit the bottom this year so they can only get better.
“They’re starting from scratch and that gives me confidence, they’ve seen the problems and they want to stop them.”
The current Renault man also thinks the current lack of results, with just one points finish in five races, is slightly misleading because of the competitiveness of the midfield.
“My car now is not bad and the McLaren is three tenths worse,” he claimed. “But the gap to the rest of the grid is a world and that makes them look even worse.”
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Sporting director Gil de Ferran explained efforts to find solutions to the root causes of their issues has been the main focus for some time and has left McLaren lagging behind.
“We have brought a few things, but it’s a race of development as well as you know, so you don’t live in an absolute world in that sense,” he said.
“I think there is a lot of truth to the fact that we are very focused on next year’s car and trying to make a better car so we can be more competitive. I think there is a variety of factors.
“I think the car this year in certain circuits really exposes some of the weaknesses that we have.
“It’s hard to think that two races ago in Singapore, we had a very good race.
“Fernando for part of the race held fastest lap in a very genuine way, and we finished in what I thought was a very strong seventh position.”