Sainz started off the season with 7th in Australia. In China, he made the boldest move in the field to be the only one on the dry tyres. It worked and he finished 8th. He did not finish in Bahrain after colliding with Lance Stroll when he was coming out of the pits which resulted in a three place grid penalty at the next race, the Russian Grand Prix, where he went on to finish 10th. In Spain, he once again finished 7th before his current season best with 6th place in Monaco by holding off Lewis Hamilton. He did not finish in Canada, where he was involved in a first lap clash with Romain Grosjean which took out Felipe Massa. He finished 8th in Baku before finishing 7th in Hungary after not finishing in the points in Austria and retiring in Great Britain due to a collision with his teammate. He finished in 10th at Spa, 14th in Monza and then 4th in Singapore. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, he retired due to an engine problem while driving alongside Pierre Gasly, who had replaced Kvyat for the weekend. He retired from the Japanese Grand Prix as well, after a crash.