Carlos Sainz Jr. says that consistency will be the key to a good Monaco Grand Prix weekend for the McLaren F1 Team.
Despite sitting in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship after the first five races in 2019 with 22 points, McLaren has struggled for overall consistency from round to round.
Sainz Jr. hopes to bring his own good record in the principality to his new team as it looks to hold on to its promising position in the standings after a difficult week for the team’s affiliated Indianapolis 500 project.
The Spaniard has scored points in each of the four Monaco Grands Prix he has raced in, with a best finish of sixth in 2017.
“My focus this weekend is on consistency and finding the limit with patience and confidence in the car,” said Sainz Jr.
“I’ve always been in Qualifying 3 and scored points here in the past, so the target is to keep that record going for this year and improve as much as possible.”
A continuation of the aforementioned record will see the 24-year-old score points for the third race running, his longest streak since the six consecutive scores he managed from China to France in 2018 with the Renault F1 Team.
Sainz Jr. highlighted qualifying as the all-important session because of Monaco’s limited overtaking opportunities and tendency for one-stop races.
“Monaco is such a special race on the F1 calendar,” he added.
“The history, the track and the atmosphere the whole week makes it something absolutely unique.
“Obviously, it can be very tricky to overtake here, so setting the car up on Thursday and Saturday morning is more crucial here than anywhere else for a strong result in qualifying and hopefully the race.”
