McLaren boss Zak Brown believes Carlos Sainz will be winning races in no time if he gets a good car

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes their former driver Carlos Sainz, now driving for Ferrari is capable of winning races “in no time” if he is given a capable car.

Speaking at a post-season interview with GP fans, Brown praised the Spaniard and said:

"He’s a hell of a racing driver. It’s only a matter of time until he starts winning Grands Prix."

"If he’s got a car underneath him capable of winning, Carlos will be on the top step of the podium for sure. They (Ferrari) got two very good drivers. Carlos has done an outstanding job, that too was not a surprise."

Carlos Sainz left McLaren for Ferrari at the end of 2020, after two successful campaigns with the Woking-based squad. During his time with the iconic team, Sainz broke the team’s podium drought and came incredibly close to winning his first race at Monza in 2020.

Furthermore, he played an instrumental role in McLaren’s recovery up the field, helping the squad finish P4 in 2019, and P3 in 2020, respectively.

Among the five drivers who changed teams in 2021, the Spaniard was the first to adapt to his new car. During the second half of the season, his consistent performances helped Maranello overhaul his former team for P3 in the constructors.

Sainz outscored his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc to snatch away P5 in the driver’s standings, also beating his former teammate Lando Norris in the process.

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Carlos Sainz will have equal status with Charles Leclerc in 2022

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has revealed that the team will not have a dedicated number 1 driver in the upcoming season and that both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will have equal status within the team.

Speaking of Ferrari’s prospects of the 2022 season, during an interview with crash.net, Binotto said:

“In terms of drivers, as we often said, it’s the track that will dictate it. The priority is always the team, but no doubt, if they can compete for an important position in the championship, it will be the track that will tell who is ahead."

“We will not have a policy of number one and number two. We will simply discuss it in terms of positions on track whenever it will be time.”

Ferrari’s current driver line-up is their youngest in F1 history and went against their nearly decades-old tradition of choosing more experienced drivers, and preferably world champions.

However, after more than a decade without championship success, despite three F1 world champions driving for them, the Scuderia opted to choose young talent over experience.