McLaren driver Carlos Sainz hopes Renault will deliver on the hype over their 2019 engine for his new team.
Renault has talked up the progress it has made with its new engine, with the company’s Formula 1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul describing their power gains as “significant”.
Speaking at the launch of the MCL34, Sainz told Autosport: “Everyone looks to be talking very nicely about that engine.
“I really hope it is what they are talking about, and we have a good surprise in testing and we have those horsepower.
“Last year, as a Renault driver, we would’ve needed those horsepower to beat Haas more regularly.
“So hopefully it comes, because it would be already a very big step for for McLaren.
“It would be a step for free that would put us already in a much more comfortable place.”
The Spaniard also predicted a stronger 2019 for McLaren because this time around, they have done their “homework”.
“The team has done their homework nicely,” he explained.
“You’ve seen the car ready here, five days before testing, and that’s a good sign because it means the car has come together earlier and nicer than last year. That is already a very good step.”
The 24-year-old also claimed that the philosophy of McLaren is to set no expectations, and that they will instead just watch and observe the progress of themselves and rivals.
“The team’s philosophy this year is to take it easy with predictions and with where we want to be,” he said.
“Until we see what the others are doing, it’s impossible to know where we are.
“We are optimistic about the directions we’ve taken with the concept, and the directions that we’ve taken restructuring the whole team – not only getting new people, but the good people that we have already at McLaren, to get them into the areas where we think they’re going to exploit their talent better.
“I think we have great talent in McLaren. There’s always new ideas, there’s always new people coming through with great ideas and it’s going to be a matter of when [we succeed].
“It’s now going to be a bit of a mid-term project, I have a two-year deal to work on that, and I’m confident.
“I like what I see, I like the way the restructuring has been, and now we’re ready to go racing and see where the car is, and from there start the development and the recovery.”
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