F1: Sainz to risk troublesome engine

Carlos Sainz Jr will risk his current Formula 1 Renault engine despite suffering water and oil leaks and overheating of the MGU-K during Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice.

The Spaniard had his running curtailed in both practice sessions leaving him heading into Saturday having not completed a practice start and with very little qualifying and race data.

"We had an oil leak during the long run in second practice, the engine turned itself off as precaution," said Sainz. "It's an engine which has suffered during the day, because we have many, many problems. In FP1 we were down on power due to overheating the MGU-K and we had a water leak as well.

"We are tight on engines, we have another option but that was overheated in Mexico during the race. It's a bit damaged. At least we have them - we will not take a penalty. Whether we finish the race or not is a question mark."

"[Taking a fresh engine is] not an option because that would mean take a penalty and the whole weekend will be compromised so we have to risk it a bit."

Sainz has retired seven times this season because of mechanical problems and he admitted the latest issue will once again compromise his weekend.

"I really wanted to have a clean weekend and have a good end to the season, but after today it's difficult," he said.

"I haven't done a practice start in the whole weekend because they were at the end of the session and I haven't finished any session. I ran down on power in FP1, in FP2 I didn't do a long run, so the weekend is now a bit compromised. We have to catch up, especially for qualifying. The race will be a bit blind but we will go for it and still finish the season on a high."

Originally on Autosport.com