Under pressure

Sainz thinks neither Hamilton or Verstappen can afford to drop down the grid in Saudi Arabia

CARLOS SAINZ has fired a stark warning to title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. Verstappen leads the British driver by just eight points heading into the inaugural night race in Jeddah, as the championship heads toward an epic conclusion.

Both drivers have shown their ability to battle back from adversity this season, with Hamilton, 36, producing one of his greatest ever drives in Sao Paulo this month as he came back from 10th on the grid to win.

Verstappen, 24, was relegated to seventh for the start of the race that followed in Qatar after incurring a five-place penalty, but within five laps was up to second, a position he eventually finished in behind Hamilton.

That followed his remarkable effort in Sochi, Russia, in September, where he again ended as runner-up despite starting the race from the back of the grid.

To add to the tension between Red Bull and

Mercedes, the fight for the Constructors’ title is also on a knife-edge, with the “Silver Arrows” just five points ahead as they seek an eighth successive crown.

However, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff aren’t the only team bosses overseeing tight battles in the Middle East, with the season culminating a week after this Sunday’s Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari lie third in the Constructors’ standings, a seemingly commanding 39.5 points ahead of McLaren, but both Sainz and Charles Leclerc trail Lando Norris in the fight for fifth place in the individual standings.

Just one point separates McLaren man Norris and Leclerc, with Sainz a further 6.5 points further back.

And the Spaniard thinks overtaking could be difficult in the next two races with so many drivers, and teams, jostling for position – a notion which will make it difficult for Verstappen or Hamilton to cut through the field if they find themselves down on the grid.

“Obviously Jeddah we have no idea what we are going to find there,” Sainz told Autosport.

“It looks like a very high-speed circuit, and we have seen in a high-speed circuit that with cars like Alpine, McLaren, and AlphaTauri, all of a sudden the field compresses a lot when it’s a high speed circuit. So it could be a very tight battle in Jeddah.

“Then in Abu Dhabi, with the new changes they’ve done to the track also, it looks like a higher speed track than what it used to be.

“There are less chicanes, and more high speed nature, and this could also bring the whole midfield back together.”

However Sainz, 27, is confident his team can finish strongly and head into the 2022 campaign, where all cars will be subject to new technical regulations, with momentum.

“So it will be a very, very tough couple of races,” he added.

“But if we continue working as we are, working as a team, I think we can be confident that we keep bringing points back and delivering like we are trying to.” – Express Newspapers