Sainz will give Leclerc ‘run for his money’

Jamie Woodhouse
Carlos Sainz will give Charles Leclerc "a run for his money" says Zak Brown.

Carlos Sainz will give Charles Leclerc "a run for his money" says Zak Brown.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Carlos Sainz will give Charles Leclerc a “run for his money” at Ferrari.

Sainz will join Ferrari for 2021 from McLaren, and there has been speculation over what role he will play at the team alongside Leclerc.

But if Ferrari want him as a No.2, then Brown isn’t so sure about that, believing Sainz will win races and give Leclerc “a run for his money”.

“I think he’s going to go really well at Ferrari, I think he’s going to give Leclerc a run for his money,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.

“I think he’ll be really good for the Ferrari mould. If they have a race-winning car I think Carlos is going to win races.”

Brown believes Ferrari are getting a driver who is consistent and reliable as well as fast.

Sainz scored his first podium last season in Brazil as he helped McLaren to P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, and himself to P6 in the Drivers’ standings.

“He did a better job than I even thought he was going to, and obviously we wouldn’t have signed him if we didn’t think he was going to do a good job,” Brown revealed.

“But he really didn’t make any mistakes. If you look back I remember in Bahrain [in 2017] where he had that silly incident back in the Toro Rosso days coming out of the pits.

“You didn’t see any of those rookie errors which you expect from a young driver.

“Real maturity, a lot of pace – let’s not forget he had a poor start to the season, getting caught out in qualifying in Australia by [Robert] Kubica’s tyre blowout, so he didn’t really start scoring points in the first couple of races.

“He worked really well with Lando. He’s very fast, he’s a team player, I never felt nervous when Lando and Carlos were round each other in the track.

“Some of the other teams you see the team mates get near each other, and they seem to have magnets.”

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