Last year, Scuderia Ferrari announced that they would part ways with Sebastian Vettel. Following that sensational piece of news, the Italian marquee roped in Carlos Sainz Jr from McLaren. So far, the Spaniard has been performing well and is able to keep up with his teammate, Charles Leclerc. So much so, that he has impressed former F1 driver Felipe Massa.

Out of all the drivers who have switched teams, Sainz Jr has adjusted the best. Admittedly, he still has a way to go before he can beat Leclerc in qualifying. However, he does make up for it on the race days.

At the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend, Sainz Jr grabbed his first Ferrari podium. It was also his first proper podium that he earned on the track instead of a post-race penalty. Now, the Spaniard sits two points behind his teammate Leclerc in the championship.

What did Felipe Massa say about Carlos Sainz Jr?

Expressing his satisfaction with Sainz, Massa brought up the former’s time with Max Verstappen’s teammate to highlight Sainz’s skills as a driver.

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“Sainz impressed me with what he achieved just in his first season,” said ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. “Even in the first year that Max Verstappen was a teammate, he was always involved in the fight. We all know how good Max was, and although he was younger at the time, he was getting good results.  Despite that, Sainz managed to fight him.

“Carlos fits Ferrari perfectly and now he has to strive to get the best results. A racer cannot stop dreaming of great success.” (Quotes translated from Turkish using Google)

Understanding how important teammate dynamics are in F1, the Brazilian continued, “He’s also teammates with Charles Leclerc, who has a great future and is known as an extremely strong pilot.”

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