Carlos Sainz admits a "very sour" feeling as engine penalties mean he can't capitalise on his potential in Austria.
The Spaniard is one of three drivers taking grid drops, as McLaren take on the latest Spec-2 Renault power unit in Spielberg.
But after finishing as the top midfield driver in both practice sessions on Friday, the realisation that single lap pace will mean very little is frustrating.
“Unfortunately today I am not [smiling] because I know what is coming tomorrow,” Sainz said.
“It will be quite a boring day with penalties coming but hopefully it will be a fun Sunday if we can find the pace like we had today then we can recover.
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“We are preparing the run plan, the car, everything for Sunday and I still attempted one fast lap just to see how the car feels over one lap," Sainz noted.
“I was P2 or P3 at the time and then P5 at the end without a perfect lap so it makes it very sour to deal with it but at least we know on Sunday we might have a chance to recover.”
Joining Sainz will be Alex Albon who also automatically starts at the back as his penalty is over 15 places, while Nico Hulkenberg will take a five-place penalty for his new Internal Combustion Engine.
