Carlos Sainz has backed away from any suggestion that Racing Point's 2020 car, dubbed the 'pink Mercedes' by many in the paddock, might be illegal.

Spaniard Sainz, who drives for McLaren, hinted that the engineers he works with do not believe that Racing Point copied Mercedes simply by studying photos.

"I asked my engineers 'Why don't we copy Mercedes too?' and they told me it's impossible. I believe them and I'm not going to say any more," he said recently.

Many took those comments to indicate that McLaren believes the Racing Point car may not have been designed in full compliance with the rules.

When asked if a protest might be looming, Sainz now says: "I don't know. That's a matter for the team.

"But I never questioned the legality of that car," he told Marca sports newspaper.

"What I talked about was the spirit of McLaren, which is to be pioneers and a team that invents, not a team that copies but a team that sets the trend.

"I am not interested in what the other teams are doing. I am only interested in seeing mine become the reference and the leading team in the medium and the long term," Sainz added.