Carlos Sainz admits his race debut for Renault "exceeded all expectations" after claiming a seventh-place finish in a near-perfect weekend at the U.S. Grand Prix.
Despite having never driven Renault's 2017 Formula One challenger following his switch from Toro Rosso, Sainz matched teammate Nico Hulkenberg for pace in practice and made it into Q3, before becoming the first driver to score points during a debut for the French manufacturer since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2005.
Although Sainz appeared to have a pace advantage over Esteban Ocon in the closing stages, he was instructed to back off from the sixth-placed Force India driver in order to make sure he did not run out of fuel before the end of the race.
"It was very close to perfect," Sainz said. "I think everything exceeded my expectations. The first lap I wanted to take it easy to make sure I did the full race distance. I didn't want to do any crazy stuff.
"From there, we just picked up pace and started attacking the Force Indias. I passed one of them and then started attacking Esteban the team told me to stop and bring it home because we were really tight on the fuel. It has been a great weekend. Thanks to the whole team for making me feel so at home right from the beginning. Let's keep going like that."
Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul was impressed by with how quickly Sainz adapted to his new surroundings, labeling his performance in Austin as "remarkable."
"Carlos made a fantastic debut with an error-free weekend. He arrived extremely motivated and well prepared in a team that was equally ready. We've done a remarkable job together since the announcement of his arrival at the Japanese Grand Prix.
"He drove an aggressive but intelligent race. Despite losing a few positions at the start, he was able to bounce back with brilliant driving skills."
While Hulkenberg was forced into retirement with a technical problem, the six points collected by Sainz has allowed Renault leapfrog to Haas into seventh place in the constructors' standings, with the Enstone-based outfit just five points behind Sainz's former team Toro Rosso with three rounds remaining.