McLaren impressed by Sainz & Norris’ chemistry

Shahida Jacobs
Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz chatting

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris’ camaraderie have been key to McLaren’s success this season, according to team principal Andreas Seidl.

After another disappointing campaign saw the team finish a distant sixth in the Constructors’ Championship last year, McLaren made sweeping changes with Sainz coming in to replace Fernando Alonso and Norris taking over from Stoffel Vandoorne.

And the duo have certainly delivered as they have picked up 82 points between them to put the Woking squad fourth in the standings with nine races still to go.

Seidl believes that his drivers have found the right balance in terms of being competitive and pushing each other.

“Our drivers get on well and they have fun, both of which are important,” he told the McLaren F1 website.

“They understand that it’s not about the competition between them at the moment. It’s about making sure they push each other in order to lift their overall game, and at the same time help us to improve as a team.

He added: “They’ve integrated excellently within the team. They’ve proven to be very approachable and open-minded.

“That’s also why we confirmed them so early for 2020. It was important to have clarity inside the team, which allows us to focus on our core job, which is to become an even better team and deliver a quicker race car.”

Sainz has scored the bulk of the points with his tally of 58 including back-to-back fifth places in the final two races before the summer break. It puts him eighth in the Drivers’ Championship.

“Carlos’s technical ability has been impressive from the start,” Seidl said. “He has very clear feedback and he provides excellent direction in terms of development.

“Combine that with his qualifying pace, his ability as a racer and his positivity, and you have a driver who’s a great asset to the team.

“I should add that he also did a very good job over the winter working on the correlation between the simulator and the racetrack.”

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