Sainz moved to Renault beginning with the 2017 United States Grand Prix where he replaced Jolyon Palmer and partnered Nico Hülkenberg at Renault, with Kvyat returning to Toro Rosso to take his old place. In his first race for Renault, Sainz finished the race in 7th and outqualified Nico Hülkenberg, a feat Jolyon Palmer failed to do throughout the year, although it meant very little as Hülkenberg opted not to post a lap time in Q2 due to his impending grid penalties. A less impressive performance followed at the next race in Mexico. He qualified 9th, three and a half tenths down on Hülkenberg in 8th, and started the race in 7th following Ricciardo's engine penalties. After the first lap, he found himself in 5th place, behind Hülkenberg, after championship contenders Vettel and Hamilton collided at the start of the race. However, Sainz spun in the high speed section of the track and flat-spotted his tyres and was forced to pit and came out in 19th place, with only the damaged and delayed Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton behind. He would remain at the tail-end of the field until he retired from the race with steering problems. He would not finish in the points for the rest of the season.