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McLaren driver Carlos Sainz heads into Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix with the unenviable record of never having scored a point at the Sakhir circuit.
It’s a curiosity for Sainz given he’s been a consistent points scorer during his F1 career in midfield machinery, finishing in the top 10 54% of the time (62 times in 115 starts). It’s also unusual given his various team-mates have managed a trio of sixth places in Bahrain when alongside Sainz.
Sainz himself has no explanation and certainly doesn’t dislike the circuit despite his record. But it’s the only track that has appeared in every F1 season he’s contested that he hasn’t finished in the points on (although he also hasn’t finished in the top 10 in his five outings in Mexico prior to this year), so it was no surprised he was quizzed about this ahead of the weekend.
“Incredible, I don’t get it,” said Sainz when asked about his Bahrain record. “I feel I’m actually sometimes very quick here and I can qualify well, I can race well.
“There’s always something in Bahrain. Last year, the crash with Max, the year before I had some [un]reliability, the year before that a crash with [Lance] Stroll. The trend continues before then.
“It’s a track I actually enjoy, I feel comfortable with. I’m fast, but I have two chances at Bahrain this time [because] we do back-to-back, which hopefully helps.”
Sainz is right that there’s no identifiable pattern to what goes wrong for him in Bahrain. He’s outqualified his team-mate in Bahrain twice, and would have done three times but for an engine failure while on a qualifying lap in 2017 that allowed Daniil Kvyat to start ahead.
It’s true he has had years such as 2018 where his pace wasn’t poor compared to Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and he has suffered on-track incidents, but only one of those – the Stroll collision in 2017 – was entirely his error.
Chances are, it’s just a question of bad luck but it’s a run he’ll want to put an end to this weekend. He certainly has the equipment to do so given McLaren has scored points in 13 out of 14 races so far this year. Given third place in the constructors’ championship is on the line and fourth in the drivers’ championship, there’s no lack of motivation to do so.
Sainz’s Bahrain misery
2015
Started: 9th
Race: DNF
Sainz qualified his Toro Rosso superbly for what was only his fourth grand prix, comfortably outpacing team-mate Max Verstappen. He held 10th place in the race until Sergio Perez passed him on lap nine and faded thereafter. He retired after 29 laps thanks to the team’s failure to attach the front-left wheel properly at a pitstop.
2016
Started: 11th
Race: DNF
Sainz started the second lap of the race in 11th place but after running wide at the final corner of the opening lap came under attack from Perez at Turn 1. The Force India driver hit the right-rear of Sainz’s Toro Rosso and gave him a puncture. With the time lost and floor damage meaning points weren’t possible, he retired after 29 laps to preserve the engine.
2017
Started: 16th
Race: DNF
An engine failure in qualifying left him 16th on the grid and he finished an attacking first lap 11th. He had the pace to fight for points but after emerging from his first pitstop he foolishly attempted to pass Lance Stroll’s Williams – which had stopped four laps earlier – into Turn 1 fresh out of the pitlane and hit the Canadian. This put both out, and earned Sainz a three-place grid penalty for the next race.
2018
Started: 10th
Race: 11th
This race came early in his one full season with Renault when he struggled with the unstable rear end, meaning he was outpaced by team-mate Nico Hulkenberg throughout the weekend. He did spend 12 laps of the race in the points and was 10th with three laps remaining, but Esteban Ocon’s Force India used tyres that were nine laps younger on a high-deg track to relegate Sainz to 11th.
2019
Started: 7th
Race: DNF
Sainz was outstanding in qualifying, taking ‘Class B’ pole position and starting from the fourth row. He jumped Kevin Magnussen to run sixth at the start and passed Max Verstappen using the DRS on the run to Turn 4. Verstappen came back at him up the inside and was squeezed, but after hitting the inside kerb slid into the McLaren. Although Sainz survived after a length visit to the pits, gearbox problems then cropped up and he eventually retired.
