Carlos Sainz Jr. says Renault-powered Formula 1 teams now have “something to fight with”, courtesy of the engine gains made by the manufacturer.
Renault has lagged behind Mercedes and Ferrari throughout Formula 1’s hybrid era, while Honda’s gains – facilitated by its new-for-2019 alignment with Red Bull – have propelled it into the fight.
But Sainz Jr. believes the French marque has also made strides with its power unit that will enable both the manufacturer team and his McLaren squad to put up a greater fight.
Sainz Jr. has raced Renault power in all but one year (2016) of his Formula 1 career.
Toro Rosso used Renault’s power units in 2015 and 2017, while Sainz Jr. switched to Renault’s factory team in late 2017, and for 2019 has joined the Renault-powered McLaren operation.
“I feel a change, yes,” said Sainz Jr. in Australia of Renault’s power unit.
“I feel a step forward, a step in the right direction. I still think we are a bit behind the Ferrari and Mercedes engines, but it definitely feels like we have something to fight with now.
I’ve done four years in Formula 1, those four years have been 10km/h down on all the straights so finally be to turning up to Melbourne and being just two or three km/h down on the top teams is a really, really encouraging scenario.
"They seem to have clear ideas of how to develop the engine through the year.
"I would praise Renault in that sense because finally it seems they’ve done the step they were needing two years ago.”
Nico Hulkenberg was the only Renault-powered driver to reach the points in Australia; team-mate Daniel Ricciardo retired after sustaining early damage, joining Sainz Jr. on the sidelines after a suspected MGU-K failure early on.
Lando Norris made Q3 for McLaren but fell to 12th by the chequered flag.
