Sainz thinks Renault's engines will be benchmark next season

Carlos Sainz Jr. believes that Renault will produce an engine that is on par with Mercedes and Ferrari's next season, with its latest upgrade making its first appearance in last weekend's Italian Grand Prix...

Red Bull used the 'Spec C' engine in Italy, with Daniel Ricciardo (DNF) and Max Verstappen (P5) both reporting the slight gains, believed to be 0.3s roughly.

Sainz is leaving Renault at the end of the season, as he prepares for a new challenge with other customer team McLaren.

The Spanish driver believes the manufacturer should be delighted with the new engine upgrade's debut.

"The C-spec is the baseline of next year's engine," Sainz Jr. said to Autosport. "It looks to be working well in Red Bull, and they look pretty pleased with that. That's a good step. 

"It's a shame that we didn't have it this year because it would make our life a lot easier against the Haas and against the Force Indias. I have faith that Renault is going to finally make an engine at the level of Mercedes and Ferrari.

"Together with that partnership with McLaren, I hope to have a better year than this one."

Renault have ensured Sainz and his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg stick with the B-spec engine due to reliability concerns they have over the C-spec.

"We won't have many more developments on the engine side, we need to focus on the car," Sainz revealed. "It's good that they (Red Bull) run it because the engine guys learn from that and put the finding into next year's development."