Carlos Sainz Jr's early McLaren F1 test an 'important head start'

Sainz is switching to McLaren after one full campaign with Renault as the French manufacturer has signed Daniel Ricciardo and Sainz's current employer Red Bull is releasing him.

The Spaniard will team up with McLaren for the first time in next week's Pirelli tyre test in Abu Dhabi after being given permission to link up early.

Sainz said it was "great news" and an "important test" to acclimatise with his new surroundings.

"For any driver, it's important to get a head start before the season even finishes," he said.

"To say already what you like, what you don't like, what you want to be changed, your seat comfort, the steering wheel, the controls.

"There's many things I think you can advance with the winter ahead.

"Hopefully I will be able to do so on Wednesday."

Sainz switched to Renault with four races left of the 2017 season, which gave him more time to learn the differences from the Toro Rosso team he had spent almost three years with.

He said he was seeking the same impact with McLaren next week.

Asked by Autosport how hard it is to get used to everything new when switching teams, Sainz said: "You cannot imagine!

"It was a whole new world when I changed from Toro Rosso to Renault. It will be the same [with McLaren].

"When I arrived here last year I had four races to just get going with what I had and I was pleased with how fast I adapted and how I was on the pace straight away.

"Then I had to find the last tenth or two tenths in qualifying and you need to understand all those settings, all those little details [to do that].

"That's what I'm expecting to get sorted, first learning them in the test and then go to Barcelona [for pre-season testing], fine-tune them and get them to my liking for Australia."