McLaren F1 Team’s Carlos Sainz Jr. has admitted his disappointment at his third non-score in a row in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix following costly contact with former team-mate Nico Hülkenberg on the opening lap at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
The Spaniard qualified a superb seventh for the Woking-based outfit to deny their engine manufactures Renault F1 Team the spoils in Formula 1’s hotly contested midfield battle. However, his German adversary aimed to bounce back on race day and duly attempted an ambitious lunge on Sainz – dropping both to the rear of the field.
Unluckily for Sainz, he dropped a lap behind the leaders, ultimately leaving him firmly out of contention for points. That was until a string of late-race safety cars brought him back onto the lead lap, and onto the tail end of the field. From there Sainz delivered his typical combative drive, only to end his quest for points in twelfth, just behind the Haas F1 driver of Romain Grosjean.
On the incident itself the Spaniard was clear in his disappointment stating , “Very disappointing end to the weekend. For the second time in a row we end up with a non-points finish when we were up for a good result. We had the start that we wanted; we were P7 attacking the Red Bull in front of us.
However, into Turn Five, I got hit from behind by the Renault and that was it. We had a puncture, big car damage, a long pit-stop and I was one lap down. It’s a shame because it would’ve been a good P7 and a double-points finish for the team, “he continued.
Sainz Jr. did take the positives, stressing that he fought hard to regain a place in the points following a disappointing opening lap, as he “felt strong” under the floodlights.
“Nonetheless, we didn’t give up and fought hard until the end. I felt strong physically and mentally in the car,” said Sainz.
He also expressed his confidence that he will bounce back on Sunday in Sochi as the Formula 1 fraternity heads to the Sochi Olympic park for round sixteen of the 2019 season. He stated,” I’m sure we can fight back in Russia. Let’s put this race behind for now and focus on next weekend.”
