Carlos Sainz has revealed a problem with his drinks bottle caused him to "almost vomit" during Sunday's Australian GP.

Located inside the cockpit, the bottle feeds fluid to the driver through a small pipe which feeds inside the helmet and can be activated by a button on the steering wheel.

Typically, the biggest issue is with the fluid becoming too hot during races, particularly in hot climates, and some have been known to race without a bottle attached to save weight.

The Renault driver had a different problem in Melbourne, however, as he was unable to switch off the flow of his drink throughout the race.

“I had the drinks bottle pumping water through my mouth since Lap 1 and consciously I was drinking and drinking and drinking," Sainz revealed.

"I just got full of water in my stomach and I wasn’t feeling good. All the water inside was going side-to-side, it was very difficult. At some point under the Safety Car, I nearly had to vomit."

Ultimately, the Spaniard admitted it was a challenge just to finish the race but did so, holding off Sergio Perez to claim the final point in 10th.

“It was a positive start and I’m happy with the performance all of the weekend," Sainz added.

"I think I could have done much more without the problems and with better car handling in the first stint but it’s something to learn from and we get better."

Another driver who suffered a freak failure was Sergey Sirotkin as the Williams driver was forced to retire early on due to a brake problem.

"You would not believe what happened – it was a plastic sandwich bag, which went into the rear-right brake duct," said the disappointed driver.

"We still have a piece of the bag in our bodywork. Yes, that's how exciting it is. It was a big bag, a big sandwich bag.

"It was Lap 3 or Lap 4, and it made [the brakes] overheat massively. It caused massive temperature spikes and destroyed all of the brakes.

"Obviously at some point, I lost the pedal completely. There is no wall or anything there, so lucky the car is still in one piece. But I lost the pedal and went completely straight. It was day over."