Nico Hulkenberg was bemused after bouncing from one setback to another at the Russian Grand Prix.
The German was left to carry the flag for Renault after Daniel Ricciardo suffered a puncture in a collision on the opening lap.
But for every step forward that Hulkenberg took, he would suffer three back, eventually having to settle for the final point in 10th.
“I can’t be that happy, to be honest, because the car I think should’ve been right up there in P6, we should’ve been fighting with Carlos [Sainz] for P6," he told Formula1.com.
"It kind of didn’t happen for us today, in the race, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
“A bad start, bad pit stop, unfortunate with the Safety Car, traffic, some engine issues right at the end – it was all very difficult and in these circumstances, you can’t really ask for more than 10th."
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With Sainz and Lando Norris claiming sixth and eighth, it means the gap in the battle for fourth between McLaren and Renault is now 33 points with five races to go.
And Sochi was another example of what has been a more common occurrence in 2019, a failure to capitalise on a strong qualifying.
“Yeah, yeah obviously it all starts with the poor start,” Hulkenberg said.
“I lost three or four positions on lap one and obviously that’s not great, it leaves you a bit on the back foot and exposed from there.
“And of course losing seconds in a pit stop, in a midfield where every tenth matters, is quite costly as well. That’s racing, I guess. We’ll regroup and bounce back in Japan.”
