Renault pleased with strong qualifying from Sainz

Renault is looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix after a very happy with their performance in qualifying. The pair of Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg put in a strong qualifying performance despite the latter starting at the back of the grid due to power unit penalties.

Sainz will start the race from seventh on the grid, a good lap from the birthday boy considering the deficit to their rivals in Haas and the front-running Ferrari's and Mercedes'.

The result was welcomed with open arms by the Spaniard, saying that the set-up changes from practice had worked wonders adding he was looking forward to fighting for points in the race.

“That’s a more than good enough birthday present! I’m very happy with that," Sainz said in the team's qualifying report.

"We changed the rear wing before qualifying so we went into the session a little bit in the unknown. We had good pace straight away, playing a bit with the slipstream to get the most from the higher downforce rear wing.

I felt much more comfortable in the car today and the strategy in Q3 was perfect. We’ve turned it upside down since Spa to find more performance, so today is a pleasing end result. The team have worked really hard and we’re in a good position to fight for points tomorrow.”

Despite Hulkenberg starting at the back of the grid, Renault sporting director Alan Permane added that he was very happy with the times in qualifying and that the race would be another opportunity to impress for his drivers.

"We had a very, very strong qualifying," Permane summarised.

"Both cars are working well and we are optimistic of a good day tomorrow. It will be a tough race for Nico with his starting position, but the car is performing and you never know; we will try everything we can to move him up.

"For Carlos, there’s every chance he can get a very decent haul of points so we are looking forward to the race."