14/12/2016
NEWS STORY
Carlos Sainz has admitted that Max Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull was hard to swallow.
In the aftermath of Max Verstappen's promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, it was Daniil Kvyat who got any remaining attention.
However, another driver affected by the Dutch sensation's promotion was Faenza teammate Carlos Sainz who many had expected to move up to the senior team ahead of the youngster.
While Verstappen has rightly grabbed the headlines, even more so than in his debut season, Sainz is no slouch and has given a seriously good account of himself given the equipment at his disposal.
Demoted back to Toro Rosso after a season and a half at Red Bull, Kvyat got the sympathy vote as the Russian was so publicly snubbed however, Sainz admits that the period after Verstappen's promotion was difficult for him also.
"I tried to show a lot of strength but it was a difficult moment, obviously, because you don't like being overlooked by someone," he told Autosport. "People talked about how difficult it was for Kyvat but people thought it was easy for me also.
"They didn't take into account that it was also a difficult moment for me," he continued, "that I had to react and I had to suddenly take the attention of Red Bull. I said to myself, 'I will prove you wrong' and then my best three races came directly after that and a contract arrived in Baku and I signed it immediately.
"So it was a big turning point and a good reaction to a very tricky situation," he admitted. "It would have been quite tricky for me suddenly to do not such a good job against Kyvat. It could have put my F1 career in a tricky situation so I was under a lot of pressure and I performed at my best level."
Following Kvyat's return, the first thing on the agenda was for Sainz to establish himself as the number one.
"I remember when this happened," he said, "I was going to Barcelona, it was my home race. There was pressure from the change of team-mate and it was nearly obligatory for me to be ahead. I was under a lot of pressure but suddenly everything went perfect from then onwards in the season so it was a good moment and something that I'm very proud of."