Sainz: Renault has made step it needed to two years ago

Carlos Sainz believes that Renault has made a significant step forward in 2019 but it is one it should have made two years ago.

The Spaniard's 2019 season and first race with McLaren did not get underway in the manner he had hoped for in Australia, having been forced to retire from the race with a fiery MGU-K issue.

Sainz, who has driven a car powered by a Renault power unit in three of the four years since his debut in 2015, explained that Renault has made a big step forward but still had some distance to go to catch up with the top performers.

"I feel a step in the right direction. I still think we are a bit behind the Ferrari and Mercedes engines, but it definitely feels like we have something to fight with now, finally," he told Motorsport.com.

"I have done four years in Formula 1, all those four years has been 10km/h down on all the straights. So finally, to be turning up to Melbourne and to be just 2/3km/h down maybe on the top teams, is a really, really encouraging scenario.

"They seem to have clear ideas of how to develop the engine during the year so that gives some positive vibes also. I would praise Renault in that sense because it finally seems like they've done the step that we were needing two years ago."