Carlos Sainz Jnr says problems on Saturday and Sunday in Melbourne cost him the chance to fight for victory.
The Ferrari driver started ninth on the grid after his final run in qualifying was delayed due to a technical fault. In the race he lost more ground at the start due to another problem, then spun into retirement.
“We had again a problem with the steering wheel, a similar problem to yesterday,” he explained. “There was a few buttons that were not working.
“We had to change the steering wheel and it meant that the steering wheel was not well positioned for the start and we triggered anti-stall in both starts because of the clutch and the torque.”
He spun off at turn 10 while trying to pass Mick Schumacher. “I was on the back foot and I tried to make up the places in the first three laps and I clearly made a mistake when the tyre was probably not ready to to start overtaking,” said Sainz. “I misjudged the grip and I made a mistake which caused me the…