Sainz hits out at Sochi corner that "shouldn’t exist"
Sainz was a lap one retiree at the Russian Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz has lambasted the Sochi Autodrom layout following his second corner crash that ended his race just seconds after the start.
Sainz has been involved in lap-one incidents in each of the past two grands prix but, unlike at Mugello, his individual error on this occasion proved race-ending as he smashed into a wall with the front-left of his McLaren.
While accepting the blame, Sainz expressed his displeasure at the turn-two design which forces drivers to travel through a penalty chicane should they run wide.
“A misjudgement by my side, a mistake," said Sainz. "I still think that corner shouldn’t exist.
"It is not a very nice corner to drive around and it generates these kind of situations but I just misjudged it.”
After a poor initial getaway, Sainz was able to regain his starting position of sixth into the braking zone for turn two, but in cutting the corner, the Spaniard had to navigate the chicane through which he made his major mistake.
“I actually didn’t have a very good start," he added. "The dirty side of the grid was terrible and we all were very slow off the line.
“And then unfortunately in turn two, I had someone on the inside, I ran a bit wide, and by the time I decided to go around the bollard, I went around the bollard with a very narrow angle and I misjudged my entry speed and hit the wall pretty heavily."
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