Sainz qualified fifth and team-mate Charles Leclerc seventh as the Ferraris struggled to get their tyres warmed up in a rainy end to Friday's sprint qualifying.
Leclerc went off when it started raining, bending his steering rack, which Sainz admitted could have easily happened to him too.
"With the intermediate tyres we waited a long time at the pitlane exit, they got cold, and then Charles and I struggled a lot on that outlap to warm up the tyres," Sainz explained. "I'm lucky I didn't suffer the same [spin].
"We couldn't do a good SQ3, but I think I saved the day with fifth. This is a very difficult track to get to and almost go straight into qualifying."
But with practice time limited on F1's return to Shanghai, Sainz said he couldn't get his SF24 set up to his liking in dry conditions either.
It has dampened his expectations for Saturday morning's sprint, which is expected to be dry, but on the positive side the new parc ferme rules allow teams to work on their cars again ahead of grand prix qualifying later on.
"The sprint race is in the morning, then parc ferme opens and we can change the car," he added. "I would like to be able to make a couple of adjustments to the car after the sprint race, because I don't feel comfortable.
Source: Autosport