Carlos Sainz points out he ‘didn’t have this tough time’ against Max Verstappen

Carlos Sainz has pointed out he “didn’t have this tough time” against Max Verstappen after seemingly all the Dutchman’s team-mates have failed.

Verstappen has become known as somewhat of a team-mate killer having seen off six in his F1 career so far but Sainz was one of few who was not put in the shadow of the current World Champion.

Carlos Sainz reflects on team-mate battle with Max Verstappen

Sainz and Verstappen both got their F1 debuts in 2015 for Toro Rosso and were close when it came to qualifying with the Spaniard ahead on 10 occasions to Verstappen’s nine.

Come race day though and Verstappen was dominant, finishing ahead of his team-mate 10 times compared to Sainz’s six, giving the Dutchman 49 points to Sainz’s 18.

But even if he had a losing record, Sainz was one of the few to even be close to Verstappen with the Dutchman scoring 3,188.5 points in his career compared to his team-mates’ 1,795.

Sainz though said he did not have “this tough time” against a driver who he thinks is one of the best of all time.

“I think everyone is having a really tough time being Max’s teammate,” Sainz said on the High Performance Podcast.

“I can only say that when I was Max’s teammate, I didn’t have this tough time. I was obviously incredibly surprised by how quick he was. I mean, he’s an insane driver.

“He’s probably going to become one of the best ever in history, if he’s not already one.”

Sainz went on to say that his debut year was “probably the most intense year of my life” with every session feeling like a battle against Verstappen.

“I remember so many things from that year that were so intense. I think at the time, Max was 16, 17, we had the mentality to deal with that level of intensity, but I remember not the level of pressure, the level of detail we were looking at things.

“Every session, every FP1, we were going for it like crazy! Like, for me, FP1 was qualifying.

“I wanted to beat him in every FP1, every FP2, every FP3. I remember we were both really quick in the wet; we both had been really good in the wet in previous categories.

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“So, it was like, who is quicker in the wet in Formula 1. And FP1 in Suzuka, full wets, go out on intermediates tyres, aquaplaning like crazy, just to try and show in the first wet session of my life in Formula 1, without knowing the track, I was quicker than Max, and vice versa.

“I took the risks I shouldn’t have taken. I remember leading a session in a Toro Rosso in 2015 in the wet, and that being one of the highlights of my year.

“It was honestly exhausting. That level of pressure builds you. I wouldn’t change it, I would still do it all over again.”

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