Carlos Sainz Jr suffered a drinks bottle malfunction during the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix causing him to “nearly vomit” in the car.
Renault’s Sainz earned one point for his 10th place finish, holding off Sergio Perez in the closing stages.
The Spaniard’s pace was heavily compromised by nausea. The water pump on his drinks bottle failed at the start of the race, causing a constant stream of fluid to be pumped into his helmet.
“I had a drinks bottle pumping water since lap one and unconsciously I was drinking and drinking and drinking,” said Sainz. “Suddenly I just felt full of water in my stomach and I wasn’t feeling good.”
“Going from side to side it was very difficult and at one point under the safety car I nearly had to vomit. From that point it was just a case of making it to the finish. It’s unfortunate, but I just need to learn from it.”
Sainz was one of the drivers to lose out during the virtual safety car period. Both Valtteri Bottas and Stoffel Vandoorne made their pitstops while the race was neutralised, allowing them to jump Sainz who had made his one and only stop two laps previous.
Nico Hulkenberg, who pitted prior to team-mate Sainz, narrowly managed to stay ahead of Bottas and Vandoorne. He finished seventh, meaning that Renault achieved its first double-points finish since returning to F1 as a works team.
“It was a positive start for the team and I’m happy with the performance for all of the weekend.” Sainz added.
“I think I could have done much more without the stomach problems and with better car handling in the first stint. But it’s something to learn from and we will get better.”
