Sainz Jr will regret signing for Ferrari (Update)

Oh, but he soon will

UPDATE (GMM) Carlos Sainz Jr. insists he does not regret signing for Ferrari for 2021 and beyond.

Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos said this week that given the Maranello team's current lack of pace, Spaniard Sainz could be "the first" ever driver who isn't "happy with a Ferrari contract".

Sainz said in Hungary: "I'm a little surprised by how many people are asking me if I regret it.

"I don't regret it in any way," he told Spain's El Mundo Deportivo.

"I think you understand why, but there are many who don't understand F1 so much that they wonder why I would go from McLaren to Ferrari at the moment.

"Ask Racing Point how much they have improved from one year to the next. Or how Ferrari has gotten worse from one year to the next. F1 is unpredictable," Sainz said.

"It's amazing how one floor, one engine, everything in an F1 car can suddenly make you much more competitive. I am quite sure that Ferrari haven't forgotten how to make fast cars."

He thinks Ferrari's current struggle could simply be a case of the Italian team trying too hard to catch up.

"There is a team called Mercedes that does things so well that the others have to take risks to catch and overtake them, and it's difficult," said Sainz.

"Sometimes you take risks and it doesn't work out, but in Formula 1 sometimes it's necessary to take them.

"It actually motivates me a lot to go to a team that is not going through its best moment, because once things start to go better, that's what can motivate you the most," he added.

With the McLaren now superior to the Ferrari in every way, and with McLaren getting the Mercedes engine next year, Carlos Sainz Jr. has made a huge, and we do mean huge , mistake signing with the hapless Ferrari team

07/14/20 (GMM) Carlos Sainz Jr. might be the first ever driver who regrets signing a Ferrari contract before even racing a car with the Prancing Horse logo.

That is the view of former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, who says Spaniard Sainz faces the prospect of swapping a more competitive McLaren for a sluggish red car in 2021.

"Sainz Jr. is nearing the top of his game," Doornbos told Top Gear Nederland.

"I can't imagine there was ever someone who wasn't happy with a Ferrari contract, but maybe he is the first," said the Dutchman

Indeed, Ferrari is not just in crisis with its 2020 car, the coronavirus situation means that teams must field almost exactly the same car next year.

"There is no pace in the engine after last year's scandal – they've already lost nine tenths there. But the car is also not balanced," Doornbos said.

"You think it can't get worse for him, but then McLaren looks like it is on the way back to the top. The car is already good with the Renault engine and next year they will get a Mercedes.

"The team may just be at the top next year – and then Sainz hands in his seat," he said.

Sainz Jr. looks to have screwed his career

Doornbos also thinks that, contrary to the recent appearance of financial problems, McLaren is in good hands in terms of management.

"Zak Brown ran into a wall one week before the season started when the money ran out," he said. "But he was able to arrange new financing in record time – less than a week.

"You have to be a good businessman for that. Then they arrive at the first race and immediately take a podium. I think next year you will see the papaya paintwork covered with big, new sponsors.

"It makes me think," said Doornbos. "Is it not time for a change of the guard at Red Bull? McLaren hired new staff and grew enormously.

"Adrian Newey has done some fantastic things at Red Bull, but maybe it's time to look beyond him. Because currently the problem for them is not the driver, it's the car."