Carlos Sainz hopes his move to Ferrari will help the Spanish GP. In play is the future of the Spanish GP.

Carlos Sainz admitted that his move to Scuderia Ferrari next season might give the future of the Spanish Grand Prix a boost. Spanish broadcasters are shaping up for a EUR 100 million fight for the F1 television rights, after Spaniard Sainz was signed up by the Maranello team for the 2021 Formula 1 season.

Also in play is the future of the Spanish GP in Barcelona, whose place on the calendar for 2021 is uncertain.

“I don’t know what the reasons for the possible break are, but I hope that the ‘Sainz at Ferrari’ issue will help it to continue,” Carlos Sainz told Movistar.

For the moment, the 25-year-old said he is focused on McLaren, even though the world of Formula 1 is excited about his move to replace Sebastian Vettel in red: “I understand that people want to see me in red and fighting for podiums and victories, but 2020 is a different year in which we are going to need to work hard. I am thinking only of going to the UK next week, putting Ferrari in a drawer and thinking of McLaren 100 percent. Everyone at McLaren has been very good to me – even the managers and the shareholders have congratulated me. I don’t want to forget that.” – he explained.

Sainz thinks that once the 2020 season finally gets underway, drivers will be ‘rusty’ but that won’t necessarily lead to dangerous incidents.

“We haven’t had a race since December where we had all the sensations of fighting on the track, and that’s going to show when it comes to racing again. But I don’t think there will be more accidents. We are F1 drivers and we have talent. The physical issue will impact us more, because so many months without getting in the car is hard. The neck, the stomach – it will be quite impressive. The first races will be easy because we have not raced for a long time and we really want to, but in the end of such an extreme schedule we are going to be destroyed. Hopefully this is the case and we do all the races they are saying, but I think it will be difficult.”- the Spanish driver added.

At the same time, Carlis Sainz admitted that he would be happy if his countryman, friend and mentor Fernando Alonso returns to Formula 1 in 2021: “F1 is for the best, and Fernando is one of them,” he said. “I would love to fight him again. I think he can afford to decide based on his pedigree as a driver – he can do whatever he wants. He should do what makes him the happiest.”- Carlos Sainz concluded.