Sainz: Honda qualifying form worrying for Renault

Carlos Sainz believes the pace Honda are producing in the Toro Rossos is a bad sign for Renault in the engine supplier war.

Toro Rosso pair Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly both made it to Q3 in the qualifying session for the Japan Grand Prix.

However, the duo both finished outside of the points, with Renault driver Sainz moving up to 10th to claim the final points position.

"I think in qualifying, it's difficult to say," Sainz answered when asked if Honda had overtaken Renault to Motorsport.com. "I managed to overtake both Honda cars in the race at Suzuka with better race pace than them, which was a good boost I think for us.

"But I think in qualifying they took a step which I think for us starts to be worrying. Let's say that they took a step in qualifying that we didn't have, and that put them in Q3."

Renault's slump in form has allowed rivals Force India and Haas to catch the French team, and Sainz believes this is down to the performance levels of the Renault engine.

"I think we've taken the biggest hit from the engine side," Sainz continued. "I think we thought by Canada, when we were clearly leading the midfield, that the B-Spec had been successful, which it was at the time.

"Up until Hockenheim we were, let's say, happy enough with what we had, we thought we were going to the end of the year being a Q3 team and scoring points, but then those upgrades that Ferrari brought to Austria, to Hockenheim, to Hungary, we started to feel them a lot in places like Spa and Monza, and consequently places like Suzuka.

"So to compensate that big engine deficit, we should have brought a lot more aero than what we brought, but I think it's mainly dominated by engine."