Carlos Sainz says he pulled out all the stops on race day this year in a bid to compensate for his under-performance in qualifying.
The Spaniard, who switched to Renault in the latter part of 2017, ambitioned to lead the mid-field charge from the outset this season with Toro Rosso.
Sainz scored nicely indeed over the course of his 16-race final sting with the Faenza-base outfit, achieving his best result in Singapore with a fourth-place finish.
But his aggressive approach, while mostly efficient, also led to mishaps, missed opportunities or grid penalties for on-track clashes with others.
“Definitely this year I’ve been more aggressive,” said Sainz.
“I needed to be more aggressive to get points, especially as we were not qualifying in the top 10 in Toro Rosso this year, so you had to be a lot more aggressive on Sundays.
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“That might have meant I got a couple more retirements than maybe I have wanted, maybe a couple more retirements than in the previous seasons, but I think it’s paid off.
“If you look now at the championship standings, and my points, with the opportunities I’ve had, I think it’s been a very positive year.”
Sainz also believes his aggressive stance on Sundays and the subsequent results were instrumental in helping him secure his drive with Renault earlier than expected.
“I always said I’ll do my thing and I’ll do it depending on my situation,” he said.
“If in 2015 I was risking a bit less it’s because I wanted to learn, I wanted to do all the races, I was having a lot of retirements and I wanted to finish races.
“If in 2016 I was still a bit conservative it was because I had a reason to do it and if in 2017 I [was] more aggressive it’s because I had a reason to do it.
“I wanted 2017 to be a special year, to take my opportunities and to make this chance where I am now in Renault to happen.
“I knew that to be in Renault at the end of the year I needed to do some special things to shine a bit more, to risk a bit more.
“To get into the top 10 starting from 11th or 12th [on the grid], I knew I had to risk more.”
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