Sainz: Seventh was the best Renault could hope for in Spain

Carlos Sainz Jr. has praised the turnaround pulled off by Renault in the Spanish Grand Prix weekend as they went from a worrying performance in practice to a ninth-placed start for Sainz, followed by a seventh-placed finish in the race proper on Sunday.

Sainz eventually profited from the retirements of both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean to finish seventh - a position which he believes is the best the team could have got.

“I think it’s a very positive result for me and the team,” said Sainz Jr.

“We can be very proud of what we’ve achieved as this track was not ideal for us.

“We turned things around well since Friday, did a very good start and managed to finish seventh which I think was the best we could hope for.

Sainz, along with Fernando Alonso, were the favourites of the Spanish crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona at the weekend, and he has was delighted to get a positive result on home soil.

“It feels great to get another good result at home and I hope the fans have enjoyed the race. It’s good progress for the midfield fight and important points for the team. We have areas to work on, but we are making good progress.”

READ MORE: Sainz Jr. targeting home honours

Renault subsequently moved up to fourth in the constructor rankings, but this was even with a disappointing performance from Nico Hulkenberg. Team boss Cyril Abiteboul believes there is a lot of room for improvement for the French manufacturers.

“The battle is very tight so we need to keep developing and performing at our best,” emphasised Abiteboul.

“We need to eradicate the gremlins, such as those which affected Nico’s qualifying.

“Nico was blameless in an unexpected accident on the first lap, but starting in a lower grid position makes you vulnerable to these sorts of incidents.”