Paris (AFP)
Arriving in Formula 1 at the same time and in the same stable as Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr managed to get out of the shadow of the Dutch prodigy to find a place at Ferrari from 2021.
As the name suggests, the Spaniard has a pedigree: he is the son of Carlos Sainz, twice world rally champion in 1990 and 1992 and triple Dakar winner in 2010, 2018 and 2020.
It was however not his father who gave birth to his vocation but another of his compatriots, Fernando Alonso, double world champion of F1 in 2005 and 2006.
"The desire to follow Fernando's path was born the day I met him, in Barcelona, during this Spanish Grand Prix (2006, note). What I experienced at that time as that as a child, I wanted to be able to live it as an adult, like Fernando ", said the pilot, born September 1, 1994 in Madrid, to L'Equipe in 2018.
Between his father, Alonso and the Red Bull youth sector, he is well supported on his road to the queen category of motor sport, which he discovered in 2015 within Toro Rosso, the satellite stable of the Austrian brand of energy drinks.
Race number 55 makes its ranges and demonstrates one of its main qualities: regularity. Only downside, he started alongside Verstappen, who quickly became the darling of F1 and especially their bosses, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.
- A place in the sun -
Without being promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, he obtained his transfer to Renault in 2018 and finally joined the French team earlier than expected, during the last four GPs of 2017.
Quickly pushed towards the exit by the recruitment for 2019 of Daniel Ricciardo, Sainz rebounds at McLaren by replacing ... Alonso. A paying choice, the British team becoming the fourth strength of the field after difficult years.
Discreet in the paddock, the Spaniard reveals himself in a new light thanks to his friendship with his fantastic team-mate Lando Norris and obtains a first podium in special conditions, once the Brazilian GP is finished, following the downgrading of Lewis Hamilton.
His third place trophy, Sainz did not receive it during the protocol ceremony but later, surrounded by his full team. A celebration like its trajectory so far: out of the spotlight but nonetheless upward.
It's up to him next year to find a place in the sun at Ferrari alongside the one who is predicted to share the titles with Verstappen shortly: Charles Leclerc.
© 2020 AFP