Jaime Alguersuari has backed Carlos Sainz to be world champion, saying that he can handle the spotlight and deliver with his consistency.
Sainz has turned his game up since joining Ferrari, and has been delivering consistently with little to no hiccups. The Spaniard has three podiums so far this season, and is actually ahead of his more fancied teammate, Charles Leclerc.
Sainz recently put in his best performance for Ferrari till date, as he started from the back at the Turkish GP and romped into a points finish. He is now being rated in the same bracket as some other drivers by fans, and among them is Alguersuari.
Alguersuari backed Sainz to be world champion, and said that he has the ability to deliver big if he is in a championship-winning car.
“What I want to see is that Carlos can win one day and have a car to win because I think he can,” Alguersuari told Marca. “And I would love to see it.
“It wasn’t just Turkey. He have already seen super interesting things that have surprised me personally and are making me see a driver managing 20 races, a championship, in a way that I don’t see many do.
“In the end, all the driver, from a young age, are designed to make the best fastest lap, but they do not teach you how to handle difficult situations, adverse situations. In the end, you need a constant, cold, mature driver in the head.
“Carlos is showing that he is above, that he has the maturity to manage all those spectacular situations, as a World Champion.”
Champion material
Alguersuari also highlighted that should Sainz get a faster car, he will be a results machine like Lewis Hamilton, and subsequently a champion.
“The day he has a car to be in the top three, he will I say by winning as consistently as Hamilton has been in recent years, who obviously started from a base, with a car much superior to the rest,” he continued.
“Obviously not this year, (but the day that happens with Carlos, I think we are seeing (a) possible World Champion.”
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