Sainz Jr: “Back to reality” for Renault

Si Renault Sport F1 Team was able to win points during the last two Grands Prix in Austin (Texas) and Mexico, the Losange is in more difficulty on the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo which is hosting the Brazilian GP this weekend.

Carlos Sainz Jr notably finished the first day of testing in an anonymous 14th position, being more than 1”6 behind the reference set by Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes). The Spaniard does not seem surprised by this drop in performance.

“It’s a bit of a reality check for us, confided the future pilot McLaren. I was not wrong when I said that this track was going to be more complicated for us, you can see it in the times. We should be able to be faster later. We're back to our baseline settings and we'll do a better job. »

“The feeling is kind of the same as in Austin and Mexico, but we’re not as efficient. It’s simply a track that doesn’t suit us as well as the other two. Our car prefers slow, tight turns like there are in Mexico. The car's aero is less effective on the long corners here., added the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion.

Renault's day became even more complicated with Nico Hülkenberg’s accident during FP2 which delayed the preparation of the French team.

“I continued the program as planned by testing both types of tires. The only problem is that we weren't able to test the behavior of the medium tires on the long runs, but otherwise we are ready for the rest of the weekend.", said the son of the double champion WRC.

With two Grands Prix remaining in the season, the priority for Renault is to secure its 4th place in the Manufacturers' Championship against Haas which she is ahead of by 30 points.