Sainz disagreed with black/orange flag decision

Carlos Sainz says he didn't think been given a black and orange warning flag was necessary after his opening lap clash with Nico Hulkenberg but admits it wasn't the only problem which damaged his race in Singapore.

The Toro Rosso driver was caught up in the blast off the line collision with Hulkenberg and was ordered to pit to fix the damaged parts hanging off his car by race direction.

After being shuffled to the back of the field Sainz says his race was ruined by the decision but also conceded his charge for points was ultimately ended with a battery problem to see him finish 14th.

"I think even with the damage we had good pace, the problem is that we needed to stop too early [due to black and orange flag]," Sainz said. "I don't know why as there was nothing dangerous on the car but I was forced to stop early and, when you stop early, you are behind the whole traffic and your race is ruined."

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"I don't think I was putting anyone in any danger and it conditioned my race as I had to pit early - we were planning to pit on lap 14 and I had to stop on lap 7. Then you are behind traffic and can no longer do 2 stops.

"Then no battery, on lap 20, I did 41 laps with 600hp and 900 of the other, that's what really went wrong. Without that problem points were possible."

F1 World Championship Standings (After Singapore GP)

Having seen his Toro Rosso lose performance against its rivals with its aging year-old Ferrari power unit, Singapore represented one of the few clear opportunities for the team to secure points in the remainder of 2016 and Sainz had been running as the 'best of the rest' behind the top three teams during free practice.

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