Carlos Sainz Jr was upset that contact from Sergio Perez left his car with significant damage.
The contact with the Force India not only caused a puncture that forced the Spaniard to pit but also incurred damage to his STR11’s floor and steering column, which eventually made the team retire the car.
“It was looking like a race where we could’ve certainly scored points,” Sainz admitted ruefully on the Toro Rosso website after seeing his teammate finish 6th. “It all just ended in a first-lap accident.
“We had a very good start to the race – obviously everyone in front of us was on the supersoft tyre while we started on softs, but we still managed to gain a few places, so that was good. We were fighting and I was defending from a McLaren and Checo Perez, who suddenly arrived from behind and hit me, causing a puncture.
“From that point onwards my race was completely lost, as I was a lap down after my first pit-stop.”
Sainz will be hoping for a better performance out in China as pressure has been put on the Red Bull junior and senior team drivers to keep hold of their seats in 2017.
