Carlos Sainz Jr arrived at Motorland Aragon as joint championship leader of the Formula Renault 3.5 series alongside Will Stevens and Pierre Gasly, however a second victory of the season and a fourth place in race two saw the Red Bull backed driver leave the Spanish circuit as outright championship leader.
“This quite simply is a fantastic team; it always gives me an excellent car in which I can push really hard as I feel completely confident in it,” said Sainz. “Saturday’s win was a just reward for them, but I’m disappointed with my Sunday. Even so I scored good points for the championship and I’ll go to Monaco in a relaxed frame of mind.
“All the more so as I know that DAMS will again prepare a super car for me.”
His DAMS team-mate Norman Nato on the other hand scored his first point of the season during the second race of the weekend, but showed determination to make up for poor qualifying efforts to challenge for points in both races.
“In terms of points it’s a pretty meager result and my first point of the season is far from satisfying me,” admitted Nato. “It’s a pity for the team, which spares no effort, and for me as well. On the other hand, I’m pleased with my races as I’ve got the speed and I love pushing.
“I must find the key to qualifying, above all in Monaco. I’m going to work even harder to achieve this.”
The managing director of DAMS, Francois Sicard, was delighted that Sainz left Spain at the top of the championship standings, but also praised the race efforts of Nato.
“We’re very satisfied with this weekend marked by another victory, another pole and Carlos taking over the lead in the championship,” said Sicard. “Bravo to the whole team who did a great job, and of course to Carlos who again showed his exceptional brio and his intelligence in the context of the championship.
“We’re going to do everything we can to give Norman the maximum amount of confidence in qualifying. Given his performance in the races we can only imagine what he might do if he started in the top five, which is where he belongs. It’ll be all the more crucial in Monaco where we’re going to fight to give the lie to the statistics!”
