Carlos Sainz fears McLaren don't have the pace to recover after being unable to compete in Saturday's qualifying in Brazil.

The Spaniard returned to the garage with an engine issue on his out lap in Q1 and would not emerge again, leaving him at the back of the grid for the race.

“What can you do… a loss of power at the end of the final corner and there was no time to repair it,” a deflated Sainz told Movistar+ in the paddock.

“I just got out of the car and we still don’t know what happened.

“It annoys me a lot as it was a day where we could qualify at the front and have a good race, and now it’s going to take a lot [to get a good result].”

Indeed, Saturday was Sainz's worst qualifying since Austria, where he had an engine penalty, but while he was able to rebound up to eighth in Spielberg, the tight midfield makes a repeat at Interlagos a tougher prospect.

"Well yea, especially because here we don't seem to have any pace advantage over the midfield so to come back is going to be pretty tough," he added.

Teammate Lando Norris added to a rare off day for McLaren in P11, though will start 10th after Charles Leclerc's penalty.

“Not the best quali as I didn’t make it through to Q3, which obviously we’re always working towards," the Briton commented.

"We’ve not been as strong here so far this weekend compared to recent races as the car doesn’t seem to suit this track.

“Plus, the grid is super close. One-hundredth of a second and I would’ve been into Q3, which is a bit frustrating – but it shows small things count. We knew we would be tight and we just missed out.”