Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Sainz sure of Toro Rosso progress in 2016

Carlos Sainz says he is sure Toro Rosso "will make a step forward in terms of performance" despite using a year-old power unit in 2016.

Following the drawn-out uncertainty over Red Bull's future in the sport last year, Toro Rosso eventually secured a switch from Renault power units to a supply of previous specification Ferraris. Explaining his winter training regime to the official Toro Rosso website, Sainz says he is preparing himself for a mentally challenging year but expects a more competitive car.

"I think I learned (in 2015) how difficult it is to always give your 100% every race weekend, throughout the whole season," Sainz said. "This year there are even more races on the calendar, so my training purpose is thought to improve my performance, race by race.

"I expect a long but fun Championship ahead, where I will make the most of all what I learned last year and I'm sure that we will make a step forward in terms of performance. It will be a challenging season but that doesn't scare me at all... Let's not forget that I'm living the dream of my life!"

Sainz finished his debut F1 season in 15th place in the drivers' championship with 18 points, with a number of reliability issues throughout the season leaving him 31 points adrift of team-mate Max Verstappen.

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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.