Sainz eyes Toro Rosso points return at Marina Bay

Carlos Sainz looks to end his current points drought at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, with the Toro Rosso rookie expecting the Marina Bay street circuit to suit his Renault-powered STR10 “quite well”.

Although Sainz managed to reach the chequered flag for the first time in five grands prix with a 11^th-place finish at Monza two weeks ago, the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion has failed to score any points since last May’s Monaco Grand Prix.

“[Singapore] seems like a pretty interesting track: long with a lot of corners, braking, bumpy… and it will suit our car quite well!” said Sainz.

“I’m very happy to have finished the race in Monza after four retirements in a row, and hopefully we can make the most out of this weekend. Singapore is a very good opportunity for us to score some points!”

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Making his Marina Bay debut this weekend, Sainz has already raced under the floodlights when F1 travelled to Bahrain earlier this year. But the 21-year-old knows he will have to adapt to an unexpected schedule, with teams and drivers effectively staying on European time.

“The race programme is so weird! Not the usual driver routine at all… Breakfast at 15:00, lunch at 19:00!

“We go to sleep very late, wake up late… to drive at night is always different, our night vision needs to be perfect!

“However, I have been told that the lights there are very strong and you can’t really tell it’s night time.”

Chris Medland's Singapore Grand Prix preview

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