Breaking news
Formula 1
Sainz "confused" by instability issue during 2018
Carlos Sainz has admitted that he spent 2018 'confused' by an instability issue with his Renault that dogged his performances in qualifying.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Dec 6, 2018, 9:28 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Spaniard, who is switching to McLaren next season after his former team swooped for Daniel Ricciardo, has revealed that he never fully got on top of why he struggled when it came to extracting the best single-lap pace.
"When it comes to finding the limits of the Renault car, it was where I tend to struggle a bit," said Sainz, when asked by Motorsport.com to evaluate his performances this year.
"I apply just a bit more brake pressure, and I pick up a bit of instability. It's just this thing I've been trying to level out the whole year: trying to pick up the stability when you really try to push the limit, that this car doesn't give me.
"So, yeah, I'm a bit confused by that. It's been the whole year playing a bit cat and mouse with the balance of the car."
Sainz says the instability problem first came to light early in the campaign, and when he was able to make progress and cure the issue, it had consequences on his overall speed.
"It has confused me a lot during the year," he said. "I've been playing a lot with set-ups to take it away, but sometimes I was having to do too many compromises to find the right stability.
"In general, I haven't really managed to take it away 100 percent, I've never been comfortable in qualifying to extract the last two tenths.
"It is true in some qualifying sessions I managed to do a good job, and I've been very consistent; always in Q3, always very close to the limit, but never able to find that one tenth I could extract out of the Toro Rosso or other cars."
Although Sainz was able to deliver a decent chunk of points, he says that the qualifying issue – plus some bad reliability at times – left him feeling as though the campaign did not go as well as he had hoped.
"There have been ups and downs during the season, especially during qualifying," he said. "I think during the race I've always been strong, I've always been there to score points.
"So I'm in two minds about this season. For how comfortable I was with this car, for how not so happy I was, I think I've been able to extract everything from it.
"The weekends where we could have got a lot of points, like in Paul Ricard and Mexico, we did a have a big reliability failure which didn't allow us to be a bit higher up in the championship and score some more points for the team. So I'm in two minds.
"I know that with what I've done on a personal level, it's quite good, but I'm disappointed to have not found that mojo with the car I used to have in the Toro Rosso or in World Series, to be an exceptional qualifier."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 to use artifical intelligence TV graphics in 2019
Next article Magnussen: Only fighting in F1's Class B is "dull"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Carlos Sainz
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Lewis Hamilton: Younger F1 drivers are “more and more cautious” about racing in rain
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Lewis Hamilton: Younger F1 drivers are “more and more cautious” about racing in rain
More from
Renault Sport
Alpine owner Renault staying in F1 for a long time, says new CEO
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
Alpine owner Renault staying in F1 for a long time, says new CEO
Ricciardo says Renault F1 car "happier" in low-downforce trim
Formula 1
Formula 1
Belgian GP
Ricciardo says Renault F1 car "happier" in low-downforce trim
Renault lodges third protest against Racing Point
Formula 1
Formula 1
British GP
Renault lodges third protest against Racing Point
Latest news
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Qualifying: Lewandowski dominates, taking pole for both races
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
1 h
Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Qualifying: Lewandowski dominates, taking pole for both races
Marc Marquez: “In the first half of 2026, all I wanted to do on Sundays was lie on the sofa”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez: “In the first half of 2026, all I wanted to do on Sundays was lie on the sofa”
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe