About his move to McLaren in 2019, he said that the best thing was the serenity of being able to plan a season knowing that he has a two-year commitment, a guarantee on which to count and be able to work on.
Carlos Sainz has been chosen by Scuderia Ferrari to take over the seat of Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari from 2021, alongside Charles Leclerc.
A career which has been marked by the typical tension of the Red Bull Junior team program, with the need to earn a renewal every year, from the 2015 debut with Toro Rosso alongside Max Verstappen.
The single-seater debut
Red Bull has been supporting his career since 2010, with exploits in Formula BMW Pacifico that convinced Helmut Marko to bet on the then-sixteen-year-old Sainz jr. His first year among cars was spent between Formula BMW, Formula Renault 2.0 Europe and Formula 3 Open with the team of Emilio De Villota. First, from 2006 to 2009, a career between karts and results in the KF3 Class, from the victory of the Asia Pacific Championship in 2008 to the Munich Kart Cup in 2009, the year of a second place in the European KF3.
At the gates of Maranello Carlos Sainz knocks with a Formula 1 career that during 5 years has shown a driver which is fast and rarely misses opportunities in the race. He has shown that he knows how to manage a race and matched Max Verstappen on several occasions over the years in Toro Rosso, Faenza where he has already driven a Ferrari back engine in 2016.
The titles
His racing record includes a title in Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europe in 2011, the year of his second place in the continental series. In 2014 he won the title in Formula Renault 3.5 with DAMS, one year after he got the opportunity of taking the role of Toro Rosso tester, a 2013 spent also behind the wheel of the Formula Renault 3.5 and GP3 with the Arden team.
Toro, Renault, McLaren
With 3 teams in 5 seasons of Formula 1, Carlos went from Toro Rosso to Renault to McLaren. At Enstone he arrives in 2017, during the ongoing season, after a spectacular fourth place in Singapore with Toro Rosso – best result in Faenza since Monza 2008; from the USA GP in Austin he replaces Jolyon Palmer and pairs with Nico Hulkenberg. Carlos uses the final part of that Formula One season, a championship finished in ninth place – to discover a new reality, in which he would be racing in 2018m, on loan as a Red Bull Racing driver.
101 races and the first podium
The substantial change of pace is made in McLaren, where he is a “veteran” at 25 years compared to the debutant Lando Norris. In a way he assumes the responsibilities of Fernando Alonso who leaves Formula 1 at the end of 2018 and makes room for Carlos Sainz at McLaren.
The start of the season is not favorable, between technical problems of the Renault power unit and accidents in the first lap. A trend that changes after three races and from Azerbaijan onwards, to Hungary, he records a series of increasing points finishes, except for Canada, where he is out of the top ten but with brake problems slowing down his race. Often the “best of the rest”, of those who do not drive a Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, in Spa he pays the price for a technical problem while in Monza an error during the change of tires.
In 102 Formula 1 starts, his best result came in Brazil last year: first podium of his career, third, following the 5 seconds penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton due to an incident with Alex Albon. No podium party, except after the official ceremony, with the entire McLaren team.
2019 sees him get the best personal result in the Drivers’ World Championship, sixth with 96 points, one point ahead of Gasly and 3 better than Albon, the two taking turns on Red Bull.
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