Sainz Sees 'Potential' in RS18

Carlos Sainz Jr. has admitted that he doesn't fully feel at home yet in Renault's new RS18, even though he's driven 151 laps last week in Barcelona. That is however exactly why the car has so much potential, says the Spaniard.

Last week included three days of real testing from Monday until Thursday, as the weather conditions on Wednesday prevented the teams to do proper testing.

2018 will be the first full year for Sainz at Renault, after making the switch from Toro Rosso to the French team with just four races remaining in 2017.

Although Sainz has previously stated that those four races really helped him settle in at the team, he's still not fully comfortable in the new RS18.

"I haven't tested yet," said Sainz. "I have run but I haven't really started testing the car, setting it up how I like it."

Sainz Junior says that his father, rallying-legend Carlos Sainz Sr., is the one who told him how important testing is, and told him that races are won and lost before the season has actually started.

"I just need testing now, racing is not the same as testing," added the 23-year-old. "My father always told me that where you win races is in testing."

The youngster was asked if two four-day weeks of testing is sufficient preparation for the season, and Sainz thought it was - as long as there are no issues.

Sainz finished with the eighth testing time yesterday, marginally behind teammate Nico Hülkenberg and just over a second behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel.