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Sainz: Renault engine reliability isn't good enough

13:53, 09 Oct 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Carlos Sainz has criticised the Renault upgrades after being forced to run the B-Spec Renault power unit in the Japanese Grand Prix. Renault had released their C-Spec upgrade however the upgrade seemingly isn't reliable enough to run consistently at the moment.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Sainz admitted that the car had been performing well however the power unit was not good enough in its current state.

“I think there was a big setback with probably the engine side. We didn’t expect Ferrari and Mercedes to do such a big step through the year.

“We thought that the B-spec was probably going to be just enough, but we’ve seen at the moment that it is not enough.

"We brought things to the chassis, probably the chassis is not that bad, but on the top speed of side we are not where we want to be.”

Sainz also admitted that the team wouldn't run the newer C-Spec unit if it meant that reliability would take a hit.

“If it comes without reliability, no.

“The team is fully sure that with our fuel it is just not reliable enough, so I fully back the team with whatever decision they take.

“I just think we need more power, which we don’t have, and we don’t get it for whatever reason. If we wanted to be in Q3 in Japan we just needed more power, and Honda has showed that it is possible.”