Carlos Sainz Jr. was delighted with his performance during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, particularly in the early stages when he was able to battle with, and make passes on, the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers.
The Renault Sport Formula One Team racer ran as high as fourth in that early phase of the race but he admitted it was a ‘depressing’ feeling to fall down the order once he had made his pit stop from the Ultrasoft to Soft compound of Pirelli tyre, which saw him forced to battle through the field again.
Sainz then benefitted from the Red Bull drivers crashing and the subsequent safety car period, which included a switch back to the Ultrasoft compound, to finish fifth, Renault’s best result in Formula 1 since they returned to the sport as a works team in 2016.
“It felt great. It was an eventful race as you can always expect in Baku,” Sainz is quoted as saying by Formula1.com. “[It was] very tricky conditions out there but a great start put me in a good position.
“We were battling with the Red Bulls at the beginning, and I had to make a couple of moves and [ultimately] pulled way. I then had to pit and all of a sudden it was a bit depressing, going from battling for P3 to seeing yourself have to climb up from the back of the points again.
“We had the Safety Car and after that, it was all about bringing it home – it was a very strong result for the team.”
