Carlos Sainz might be wondering what he’s done by signing for Ferrari next season, Dutch Formula 1 pundit Robert Doornbos claims.
The Spaniard will replace Sebastian Vettel at the Scuderia next season but currently is watching on as the Italian team finds itself well off the pace of the leaders and even slower than his current team McLaren.
And with the current cars set to be used again next season, Ferrari is likely to be stuck in their current rot until 2022 at the earliest, while the outlook for McLaren still appears pretty rosy.
“Talent always shows in rainy conditions and Sainz was a prime example,” Doornbos commented on the Dutch Top Gear website initially after Carlos qualified third in the wet for last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix.
“He is a young driver and is still growing at McLaren, approaching the top of his game.
“He just signed a contract with Ferrari and I can’t imagine that anyone has ever been unhappy with a Ferrari contract, but maybe he is now.
“Ferrari is in deep decline, they’re hopeless on all fronts,” he claimed. There’s no more speed in the engine after last year’s scandal and they’re already losing nine-tenths on the straights. The car is completely unbalanced.
“Then you think it couldn’t be worse, but I’m afraid this is going to be the toughest year [for Ferrari], while McLaren is just on their way to the top. The car is insanely good with the Renault engine, and next year they’ll even get a Mercedes engine.
“The team can are going back towards the top and Sainz will just hand over his seat.”
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However, commenting last weekend, Sainz downplayed any doubts he was having.
“Not really. I think it’s summarised quite well with me saying I’m not thinking about 2021,” he said. “No, I haven’t really thought about it or thought about the carryover of this Ferrari form into next year.”
The second-generation driver though does back Ferrari to find solutions.
“They have always been at the top in Formula 1, and I think they will make it back there soon, or sooner rather than later,” Sainz added. “At the moment I am happy to fight them on track.”
