Carlos Sainz said a “lack of control” by Yuki Tsunoda cost him his race with the Williams driver retiring due to sidepod damage after a collision between the pair.

The two came together late in the race and it was Sainz who suffered the most with a large hole being ripped out of his right sidepod, sending him out of the grand prix.

Carlos Sainz reflects on Yuki Tsunoda Bahrain clash

Sainz’s positive Saturday in quali was already falling away by the time of the incident as the Spaniard fell down the order but any hope of points was snuffed out when Sainz’s Williams collided with Tsunoda’s Red Bull.

“He did lose the car fighting with me, and that cost me the race,” Sainz told media including PlanetF1.com.

“At the same time, when I look at the onboard, [it is] kind of racing incident also.

“So it cost me my race, a bit of a lack of control from him. But at the same time, if I was Yuki and you lose a bit the car in the middle of a fight, you would understand why you don’t want a penalty.

“So bit of a tough one but this time, it cost me. Got the wrong side of the coin and it is what it is.”

Sainz also picked up a 10-second penalty for forcing Kimi Anontelli off the track but he was not too concerned as he already knew he was retiring.

“It was just a heat of the moment with the fighting for positions after the safety car restart with cold hards and no downforce in the car.

“I just locked up and went a bit wide, and I was trying to let him by but then there was Alex.

“So I decided to let by Alex, knowing that he’s my team-mate, and it resulted in a 10-second penalty, but I knew I was going to retire anyway.

“It was a good quali, good start. Already, a couple of good starts in a row with this car. Good attacking first lap. Decent pace.

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“Just the Alpine was too quick for us this weekend and when you have the top eight cars plus the two Alpines, that’s the top 10 positions, and I was there between P11, P10, fighting for my life.

“But, we were just not quite quick enough.

“A lot to learn from. We’re in the right trajectory. Just the weekends will come a bit more together, hopefully.

“And at the same time, we have this little bit to improve on the car to see if we can catch Gastly and Doohan with the Alpine because this weekend, they seem to be in the other league more than in our league.”

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