Sainz Slams ‘Undriveable’ Renault in Sochi

Carlos Sainz Jr. has revealed that his Renault R.S.18 was “undriveable” following his first-lap collision with Sergey Sirotkin during the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, as the Spaniard struggled to a seventeenth place finish at the Sochi Autodrom in the sixth-last race of the season.

As the grid set off, a flurry of cars approached turn two, with Sirotkin being caught in between Sainz and Marcus Ericsson of Sauber in the traffic, with Sainz coming out of the incident with significant chassis damage.

The floor of the Renault suffered the most damage which severely hampered the car’s downforce, and Sainz admits it was almost impossible to drive afterwards.

“I had mixed feelings after the race,” said Sainz.

“At the start I got away from the line really well on the Soft tyre and was past a couple of cars with the Hypersoft tyres.

“However, I got hit by a Williams into turn two and, even though I didn’t feel much, the floor and side of the car was destroyed and that made it really difficult to drive.

“I stayed out on track to try and help the team with the strategy, holding back the other midfield cars as much as possible, but unfortunately the points were out of reach.

“When I jumped out at the end of the race I could see how bad the damage was and it made sense why the car was almost undriveable. Time to prepare for Japan now.”

Sainz is currently in twelfth position in the drivers’ championship, having accumulated 38 points with Renault so far.

The Spaniard is also set to join McLaren in 2019 as Fernando Alonso’s successor. He will be partnered by McLaren junior driver Lando Norris. This means that Stoffel Vandoorne is out of a contract for next year.

Now, Sainz will have to see off the remainder of the 2018 season before his McLaren debut. His place at the French team will be taken over by Daniel Ricciardo.