Sainz: 'Yellow suits me so far, yes!'

Carlos Sainz lost no time in getting up to speed with his new team in Austin, and believes Renault and his himself can be proud of his qualifying performance.

Following his move from Toro Rosso to the French outfit in the week preceding the US Grand Prix, the Spaniard warned that he would require time to find his mark.

But Sainz hit the ground running at the Circuit of the Americas, and leading team mate Nico Hulkenberg in Friday's practice sessions and outqualifying the German on Saturday, although the latter took no part in Q2 as a result of his grid penalty.

"Yellow suits me so far, yes! I can be pleased with how everything has gone," said Sainz, who qualified P8 but will line up P7 on the US GP grid thanks to Max Vesrtappen's grid penalty.

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"I think we can be very proud, my side of the garage they've helped me a lot with this new challenge.

"It was not easy, the wind picking up, the track temp going up, to see how the car was going to react in Q1 to those changes after an engine change before qualifying which I think made everything a bit more rushed.

"It was a very good reaction, very good first days with yellow. I can be very proud, yes."

Sainz admitted a propensity to easily adapt to a new car, and underlined the fact that his Renault RS17 required a different approach compared to his former Toro Rosso.

"It requires a different driving style, a different reaction to the wind, with track temp, different brake pedal, different power steering. Everything is different," Sainz said.

"But during my life, I've always liked adapting to new cars and I've always enjoyed it. I've always gone into it with a very positive mindset to these kind of challenges.

"So far it's helping me, and the guys in the garage are helping me to adapt, and it's been a very good start for all of us."

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