Sainz: Kvyat hold-up to blame for Q2 exit

Kvyat, who drives for Toro Rosso's parent team Red Bull, was in the knockout zone as the chequered flag flew but improved with a last-gasp lap, knocking Sainz out of Q3.

And the Spaniard, whose 1m37.652s lap in Q2 was insufficient for him to advance, believes he was on for a "37.3 or 37.4" before he was lost time behind the very driver who would go on to knock him out.

"Q2 run one, I did a banker lap just to improve myself for Q2 run two, but then in Q2 run two I was doing more or less the same lap, I knew I had a lot of margin to improve in sector three - but all of a sudden Kvyat was there, preparing his push lap that eventually kicked me out.

"I lost two or three tenths in the last three corners of the track - the downforce corners of the last sector. Honestly very disappointing, because today 37.3, 37.4 was more than possible, looking at our pace and putting sectors and laps together.

"And then they tell me 'Kvyat knocked you out'. Ah. 'My friend, the one who slowed me down. This is great.' But anyway I'm not gonna complain too much - it's just qualifying."

No blocking

Sainz confirmed that he would not report the incident to the stewards, saying: "I did complain on the radio and I will tell him something, but he's a 'big brother' so I can't complain too much, it would be a bit impolite. I have to swallow it.

The Spaniard also confirmed that Kvyat did not block him on the track - but, rather, took away essential downforce by being not far enough ahead.

"He didn't [block]. He was just one second in front in the last three corners. He wasn't impeding but just by following another car you lose two or three extra tenths of downforce in the last sector.

"He was very tight to enter Q3, the timing to do one lap, so he had to push - if he let me past, he wouldn't have qualified [for Q3]. So in a way I understand - but you can push a bit more from the beginning of the lap."

Additional reporting by Oleg Karpov