Brown says Sainz 'was top of a very short list' for McLaren

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McLaren boss Zak Brown says that when the time came to go looking for a successor to Fernando Alonso, he knew exactly where to go.

The team's decision to sign current Renault driver Carlos Sainz on a multi-year deal was announced last month.

"When we knew we were looking for drivers, he was right at the top of a very short list," Brown said of the decision to go with the Spanish driver.

“Carlos and I hit it off right away,” he told the official Formula1.com website this week. "He’s funny, he’s smart. He asks the right questions.

"You can tell there is an intensity to him, which I think star drivers need to have. There needs to be an edge to the intensity and he’s got that.

“So much of what we’re trying to get right here is the dynamics of the racing team," Brown added.

McLaren's new Sporting Director Gil de Ferran was also very much in favour of snapping up Sainz and making him the team's new lead driver in 2019.

“We did a fair amount of analysis, and he showed well against the different team mates he’s had in the past,” de Ferran said. "When the opportunity came up to sign him, we jumped at it.

"He’s intelligent and dedicated. He’s got a great deal of potential.”

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One thing that appealed to McLaren was the fact they were getting a young driver who nonetheless already had considerable race experience under his belt.

While Sainz is only 24 years old, he has already taken part in 75 races in Formula 1, having made his début in the 2015 Australian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso.

“Even though he’s still a very young man, next year will be his fifth season in F1," said de Ferran. "So I would consider him an experienced driver."

That proven track record will prove to be important for the team, given that it has handed the second seat to rookie driver Lando Norris.

However Sainz says he doesn't expect there to be a firm hierarchy between the drivers at Woking next season.

"I’m probably in the first half of the year maybe leading the team towards one direction or the other," said Sainz. "But in the end, I’m a strong believer that in F1, number one and number two doesn’t exist.

“I believe the team will treat us both as number ones, because that’s exactly what the team needs at the moment - both pushing each other flat out to help the team move forward.

"It will be more than an honour for me to take a bit of a lead, but I’m sure Lando has things to say!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.