Carlos Sainz Jr. will start the Chinese Grand Prix from ninth on the grid on Sunday and felt his Renault Sport Formula One Team did a ‘reasonable job’ to get both R.S.18’s inside the top ten.
The Spaniard was made to work hard for it however, with a lap and a set of Ultrasoft tyres being lost due to yellow flags and a disablement of the Drag Reduction System in Q1, leaving him with only one new set for his top ten run.
For the third consecutive race, both Renaults will start inside the top ten, with Sainz’s team-mate Nico Hülkenberg up in sixth, and the Spaniard is hoping to secure a second top ten finish of the season on Sunday to add to the point he earned in the Australian Grand Prix last month.
“It’s good news to have both cars again in Q3, we did a reasonable job,” said Sainz. “We lost DRS in Q1 with a yellow flag so couldn’t go into Q2 with only one-set of tyres, which then meant I only had one new set of ultras for Q3.
“We’re still not at one-hundred percent, especially in the slower speed corners, but it doesn’t worry me too much. Now I’m looking forward to the race, we’ll assess our options and see how things pan out.
“Degradation is going to be a big concern but I’m sure we can start off with a good first stint and hopefully bring more points home.”
