Sainz Looking to Continue Strong Start to 2018

Both Renault cars finished in the points at Australia and the team are looking for a repeat performance next weekend in the desert.

Carlos Sainz wants to carry the strong form Renault showed at the opening round in Melbourne onto Bahrain. The Spaniard said that the French team have a good platform to build on and that he can't wait to hit the tricky Sakhir circuit.

"Having both cars in the points is a very positive start for the team," Sainz said. "We can be proud of the weekend.

"Scoring points at the first Grand Prix of the year is always important and the pace was there.

"From my side, I felt more confident with the car as the sessions went by, I’m confident there are still many setups to explore.

"I can´t wait to jump into the car in Bahrain," Sainz added.

"It’s quite a standard lap with some flowing corners and long straights, which should bring overtaking opportunities.

"It can be tough on the braking system.

"Turns 9-10 are the trickiest on the circuit. In fact, it might be one of the most challenging sequences of the season, you have to brake and turn at the same time making it easy to lock-up.

"Turn 12 is an interesting one, because one lap you can go flat there if the wind is on your side. But then you try the same thing the next lap and it’s impossible because of a change in wind direction.

Bahrain switched to a night race in 2014 and gave us one of the most exciting races of the hybrid era that same year. The switch to floodlights over natural light is just another obstacle that the drivers have to adjust to.

"It’s always cool racing at night and under the lights, which makes this race one of the more unique of the calendar.

"Some braking points change slightly throughout the weekend due to the timings of the sessions," he said. "We take references from Free Practice 2

"FP2 is very important as it’s the only session representative of the race conditions."