Carlos Sainz Jnr, Renault, Albert Park, 2018

‘Poison banana’ wrecked Sainz’s race in Melbourne

2018 Australian Grand Prix

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Carlos Sainz Jnr blamed a banana he ate before the Australian Grand Prix for making him ill during the race.

The Renault driver previously revealed how a problem with his drinks bottle meant he had to drink a lot of fluid during the season-opening grand prix.

Speaking to media in Bahrain, Sainz gave more details on the problems he suffered in Melbourne.

“The drinks bottle was broken and was spilling water,” Sainz explained. “The valve of the drinks bottle was open so it was flowing water through that.”

Sainz suspects this caused the nausea he reported on the radio in Melbourne as well as “a banana I had before the race that tasted really, really bad” .

“I had a couple of bites and I think it gave me a bit of a digestion problem and together with too much water in the stomach, nothing was coming down, it was all stuck in the stomach and I was struggling to digest,” he explained.

Sainz said he couldn’t stop drinking because “then the microphone of my helmet would get wet and then I’d lose communication on the radio.”

“And all my suit was getting wet so at one point I decided, because I was feeling bad, to just take the tube out of my mouth and just let it be. I think that was part of the cause but mainly also the digestion problem I had half an hour before the race.”

Sainz joked he would “not [eat] more poison bananas because it was a shit one, definitely.”

“Believe me I’m not the happiest man because it’s a small detail that can really change the outcome of a weekend. When you are unlucky in that regard it’s a bit of a pain but I’m looking forward to this one.”

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “‘Poison banana’ wrecked Sainz’s race in Melbourne”

  1. In Australia, even bananas try to kill you …

    1. @nase LOL.

    2. Very good!

    3. Especially, if the fruit is of small calibre… like Sainz jr. Enough with the excuses, you can’t trust this fella, there’s always something.

  2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    5th April 2018, 20:30

    Is is correct that swear words should be showing on this site? I’ve never seen one before, and it seems a bit much to me to have one in the article! At least have that word replaced in a similar way to how they are covered in team radio when things get bad.

    I’m not totally against it, but it would really surprise me if this was meant to be shown.

    1. Somebody think of the children!

    2. Lighten up Francis.

    3. @thegianthogweed I once got c3ns0r3d for quoting a swear word on a RaceFans article. Guess men aren’t all equal.

      1. I once got censored for mentioning one of Vettel’s swearies, thought I could sneak it through by using the original German ;) .

  3. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    5th April 2018, 21:01

    Never gonna eat a banana again ;)

  4. Has Carlos joined The League of Crafty Apologists yet or that depends on Nico’s finishing position?

  5. So apparently right before the Australian Grand Prix Kubica ate a sandwich and “misplaced” his sandwich bag and then somehow switched his banana for Sainz’s. Karma.

  6. Almost sounds like a plot by the reserve driver ;)

  7. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    6th April 2018, 13:16

    Interesting, that Renault car and uniform does look a bit like a Minion outfit :-)

Comments are closed.