Carlos Sainz comes to the last race of the season with a mission. He knows that it is difficult, but he also knows that it could be the icing on the cake to his first season at Ferrari , in which he has met almost all the goals he had set for himself. Now he has his sights on his own teammate, Charles Leclerc , the ‘favorite’ of the Italian team. 8.5 points separate them in the World Cup standings. If you can flush out that difference, your happiness will be complete before the Formula 1 winter break.
“We are fully convinced that Charles will be the man to become the next world champion.” That’s how resounding Mattia Binotto recently expressed himself. The Ferrari boss is not worried about revealing to the four winds who his right eye is, without considering that that blind trust in Leclerc entails a slight to Sainz , to whom he launches other types of messages. “He has not been able to put together a whole weekend, there is always a mistake here or there,” he said last summer, when the Madrid native had already finished second at the Monaco Grand Prix .
True to his laid-back style, Sainz has never raised his voice, has devoted himself to working on his full adaptation to Ferrari and has been on the podium three times dressed in red with his third places in Hungary and Russia . The results confirm his progression: in the last five races he has finished ahead of his teammate and has already broken his record for points in a season with 149.5 points, against 158 for the Monegasque. He has it within reach and to overcome it he needs to be fifth at Yas Marina and for Leclerc not to score. Difficult, not impossible.
Leclerc is Sainz’s fifth teammate in Formula 1 . Of the previous four, he beat two and lost with two others. At the beginning of his career, when he wore the colors of Toro Rosso , he had to dance with the ugliest. Max Verstappen clearly prevailed in the balance of points (62-22) before promoting the Red Bull team, where he confirmed his enormous talent and can claim his first world title.
Victories over Kvyat and Norris
Very different was the head-to-head with his next comrade, Daniil Kvyat , whom he beat on his particular pulse by a global of 90-8. That coexistence ended with the signing of Sainz by Renault in the middle of the 2017 World Cup. He then began his cohabitation with the German Niko Hulkenberg , who used his greater experience and knowledge of the car to beat him 78-62.
In the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Carlos Sainz , already with more stripes in F1, was McLaren’s first sword ahead of Lando Norris , the partner with whom he always showed the best harmony. After two full years and achieving the first podium of his career, the Spaniard beat the Briton 201-146.
His growth at McLaren prompted Ferrari to knock on his door last year to offer him the seat vacated by Sebastian Vettel with his departure to Aston Martin . After 21 races defending the ‘ Prancing Horse ‘, Carlos Sainz , who has a contract for next season, arrives seventh in the last race and can move up two places because he is still closer to his friend Norris , who leads him by 4, 5 points.
