Carlos Sainz visited the El Hormiguero program with his father, and there they had a lively interview in which they talked with Pablo Motos about different topics.
The Spanish driver overtook his teammate Charles Leclerc in his first season at Ferrari, achieving a fifth place in the world championship standings, as well as four podium finishes throughout the season.
Asked if that changed his status at Ferrari , Sainz said: “I don’t know if it changes it or not because I have always believed that we have started on equal terms, but in F1 this battle is given importance because it is the only one who has the same car as you”.
“The other 18 have different cars and you can’t compare yourself directly with them,” said the Madrid native. “The only one you can do it with is your teammate. It’s symbolic, but it’s important.”
Carlos Sainz reviewed his first year dressed in red , and expressed that he was very happy with what he had achieved: “We finished in style, fifth in the world championship, with a podium in the last race, because I came in seventh and at the end I was able to be fifth in drivers, I can’t complain”.
Ferrari’s was the first of the rest, a recognition for which he has received many compliments within the paddock. However, Sainz had no chance to fight for the world championship with the two candidates, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, and when put on the table if he could beat these drivers, he commented: “With the same car, you can”.
“All things being equal, yes, what happens is that this year the Red Bull and the Mercedes were between eight tenths and one second per lap faster, and between drivers I want to think that there are no more than two or three tenths,” he said. .
“If there is a driver who drives this car, no matter how good you are, or no matter how good a day you have, you will not be able to beat him. I hope that F1 next year will be more even and we can have fun,” said Sainz.
At 27 years old, he will face his eighth season in 2022, although in recent seasons he has had a more than visible improvement in his physical condition, as he himself revealed: “The cars this year are very physical, we go very fast in the curve, that causes G-forces, and with 22 races, the neck has been growing.
“Now there are months where it shrinks because I’m not in an F1, but in March I go up again and it will start to grow until December,” said the Ferrari man.
Sainz made his debut in 2015 in the Toro Rosso team, and that same year, at the Russian Grand Prix, he had one of the biggest scares of his life. The man from Madrid lost control of his car at more than 300 km/h and collided head-on with the barriers.
“I remember it with anguish because I quickly realized that it was a strong blow,” he said. “The first thing I did was touch my body to see that everything was fine. Once I checked, I tried to get out, but the protection barrier was on me, and until they take me out, which is about 15 or 20 minutes, I’m waiting.”
“Normally I would say on the radio that I’m fine. It was a 46G hit, I was fine, nothing happened to me.”
In May 2020, Ferrari confirmed his signing for the following season, and Sainz showed what surprised him most about being in the most successful team in the history of Formula 1.
“It is difficult to say the advantages that we have being from Ferrari. What impresses me the most is knowing that you travel the world and have a tifosi base wherever you go, there is a group of people from that city who follow Ferrari for everyone, you feel the warmth of the fans”.
“Wherever I go, they leave me a different model of Ferrari, go from one race to another and know that you have a Ferrari waiting for you at the airport with the keys saying: ‘Here, your car for this weekend,'” he revealed.
