Renault considering starting Sainz from the pitlane

Renault has admitted that they are considering starting Carlos Sainz from the pitlane for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Spaniard struggled during qualifying and was knocked out in Q1.

After his move to McLaren had been confirmed during the build up to the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Sainz would have been hoping for a strong result to show of his credentials to his future employers.

Instead, promising pace in the Renault was nowhere to be seen come qualifying and Sainz was dumped out of the session in Q1 whilst current teammate Nico Hulkenberg progressed to the next phase.

“We clearly see the car has nothing to do with the car I have been driving up until the end of P3,” Sainz told media after qualifying.

“I had a lot of oversteer, no stability, a lot of snaps through the lap. It was very scrappy, very difficult to put a decent lap together. I kind of expected to get better on the second run but it got even worse. We’re looking into it.”

Although it hasn't been confirmed yet, Sainz could well start the race from the pitlane as the team are assessing making changes to his car which would carry the subsequent penalty of a start in the pits.

“Maybe. It’s being discussed. It’s under investigation." Sainz admitted.

He complained over the team radio after he had been knocked out of qualifying that he had "no grip" and will be hoping any changes made fix his problems.