Carlos Sainz is preparing for his home race – it is not so easy to count how many times he has competed at the Barcelona circuit since 2010, when he made his debut in European Formula BMW. He loves this circuit, but the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix will be special for him: it will be his last race at the Catalan circuit in a Ferrari.
Ahead of this weekend, Carlos received more and more attention from the Spanish press and in particular, in one of his interviews, he spoke about the important advice that his father, a two-time world rally champion, also known all over the world, gave him in his youth, when he was karting in Spain as El Matador.
Carlos Sainz: “I remember the advice that changed my life, because as a child I was once a good boy, but somewhat naive. I thought everyone around me was my friend, that everyone treated me well, although in fact the world of motorsport is very cruel.
I was 10-11 years old, but in karting I had to compete with guys a year, two or three older than me. I don’t know why – maybe because I’m Carlos Sainz’s son – but they did their best to beat me. Partly they are understandable though, because their parents probably pointed to me and said this is Carlos Sainz’s son, and the one in front of me is a great guy. And they tried so hard that they crashed into me from behind and knocked me off the track so I couldn’t win.
But one day my father decided to talk to me about this subject and said: “Carlos, life is a very difficult story, and this is even more true for motor racing. Here you bite first, or they bite you. For now, your rivals are biting you, trying to make your life even harder.
I know you’re a good boy and want to be friends with everyone. No problem, play football with other riders, be friends with them, but on the track, as soon as you put the helmet on, try to make sure that you are the one who bites first.”
It took me a while to go from being a good kid to being a guy who, if anything, can get you off track. Each of us has our own complexes, but let no one think that, if I am someone’s son, I will act too cautiously.”
In 2021, his first season with Ferrari, Carlos finished seventh at his home circuit, in 2022 he was 4th and last year he finished 5th.
Source: F1 News

I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.