Abiteboul hails "remarkable" Sainz on Renault debut

Sainz joined Renault for the final four races of the season, having originally been due to switch from Toro Rosso on loan from Red Bull over the winter.

He looked quick from the first practice session in Austin, qualifying eighth and finishing seventh as teammate Nico Hulkenberg retired with a technical problem.

“I think he did a remarkable job,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com. “It’s not easy to change teams in the middle of a season.

“There have been previous circumstances when things have not happened that way in other teams in the history of F1.

“It’s a move that we were all looking forward to.

“There was lots of preparation put into that. it’s not easy with a busy weekend between Suzuka and this race.

“A lot has happened to get everything ready and that is to the credit of him first but also to the team that has done such a good job all together.”

Sainz’s six points helped Renault close to within five of his former team Toro Rosso in the constructors’ standings while opening up an advantage by the same margin over Haas in eighth.

Fuel limits prevent charge for sixth

The Spaniard looked to have a pace advantage over Esteban Ocon, but was told to back off the attack for sixth because he was on the limit for fuel.

“It was very close to perfect,” Sainz told Motorsport.com of his weekend.

“The first lap I wanted to take it easy to make sure I did the full race distance. I didn’t want to do any crazy stuff.

“From there, we just picked up pace and started attacking the Force Indias.

“I passed one of them and then started attacking Esteban the team told me to stop and bring it home because we were really tight on the fuel.

“It has been a great weekend. Thanks to the whole team for making me feel so at home right from the beginning. Let’s keep going like that.”