“It toughened me a lot to compete against someone whom all of Red Bull supported,” Sainz recalls his duel with Verstappen
Carlos Sainz has been in Formula 1 for a decade now and, thanks to his time with five teams, he has gained invaluable experience. But his beginnings were perhaps the toughest, as he had to face Max Verstappen.
At 31 years old, Carlos Sainz is already one of the established drivers in Formula 1. Not for nothing, he has been through five teams and has competed against some of the best drivers of this century.
Some of them he has had as teammates, especially highlighting Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, Lando Norris at McLaren, or Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso. The first and, surely, most intense duel he has had to face in the top category.
Sainz vs. Verstappen
In 2015, Toro Rosso completely renewed its driver lineup, turning to two young talents from the Red Bull program: Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen. At 21 and 17 years old respectively, both quickly understood that in the junior team, the important thing was not to work in harmony, but to consider your teammate the main and practically only rival.
“Those two strong years at McLaren were perhaps the best of my career, where I got the most out of the car I had”
That year, Carlos Sainz arrived in Formula 1 practically by chance and thanks to a series of coincidences. The first was that Fernando Alonso decided to prematurely terminate his contract with Ferrari to go to McLaren. The second was that Sebastian Vettel was his replacement at Maranello. This, in turn, left a vacancy at Red Bull that was filled by Daniil Kvyat, a Russian driver who had been at Toro Rosso until then.
Carlos Sainz went from being almost out of the Red Bull program to having his big opportunity in Formula 1. “I realized that I might not make it... it was a brutal wake-up call from life.” At 17 or 18 years old, thinking that I might not fulfill my dream was very hard to accept.
But it did happen, although the beginnings were the most complicated that a driver can have as a debutant: the 'slaughterhouse' of Toro Rosso and against the greatest talent in several generations: Max Verstappen.
“It toughened my character a lot, because being against someone with such quality and with the entire Red Bull environment supporting him forced me to bring out the best in me,” recalls Carlos Sainz on DAZN. “We arrived in Abu Dhabi tied and we both knew it. We went all out in that last qualy.”
And he did, as Sainz was able to hold his own brilliantly against a Max Verstappen who was already then incredibly fast and aggressive, but also more immature. After a very competitive year between the two, the Madrilenian defeated the Dutchman by 11-10 in qualifying, although in the race, he scored 31 more points.
The following year, after only four Grands Prix, Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull in place of Kvyat, winning in his debut with the first team and starting a story that, to this day, is told through four world titles, 66 victories, and 119 podiums.
McLaren, Ferrari, and Williams
After a brief period at Renault, where Carlos Sainz perhaps showed his grayest side in Formula 1, everything changed with his arrival at McLaren. A team that, after a stormy period with Honda, Alonso, and Vandoorne, was completely renewed with the Spaniard and rookie Lando Norris.
“It was the first place in Formula 1 where I really felt loved, supported, and embraced by everyone,” Sainz recalls of that time in Woking. “It boosted my confidence and allowed me to grow as a driver. Those two strong years at McLaren were perhaps the best of my career, where I got the most out of the car I had.”
Then came Ferrari, a call that Carlos Sainz could not refuse due to its history, prestige, and the challenge it represented. “I remember thinking: ‘This team has a couple of years left, but I think they are going to win races,’ and look where they are now. I think and confess that I believe that if I had stayed, we might be fighting for a World Championship right now, but it’s very hard to predict.”
“I think for any driver in my position, when Ferrari calls you during the period when I was at McLaren, which is not the case now, you have to go to Ferrari,” Sainz argues about his departure from a McLaren that was already pointing to medium-term success.
“You can’t say no. I wanted to prove to myself and to everyone that I am worth being there, to fight for podiums and victories,” he adds, recalling that at that time Ferrari was closer to success than McLaren.
Williams, a life project
If Carlos Sainz could have chosen, he would have retired at Ferrari. However, Lewis Hamilton crossed his path, and in Maranello, they didn’t even consider rejecting the offer from the seven-time world champion.
This has allowed Sainz to complete what we could call the ‘triple crown of F1’ in terms of teams, something that only three other drivers have completed in the entire history of the category.
After McLaren and Ferrari, Carlos Sainz now competes for Williams, the third historic team. And, although it is very far from its moments of greatest glory, the Spaniard sees in the plan led by James Vowles a “life project.”
“I am very well at Williams and I think it is a very good place for my future. If we manage to bring Williams back up and achieve a podium or a victory someday, it would be the most exciting thing for me, it is my life project,” concludes Carlos Sainz.
