Carlos Sainz Vazquez de Castro, better known as Carlos Sainz Jr, was born September 1st 1994 and competes under the Spanish flag for Scuderia Ferrari as of 2021. He was originally part of the Red Bull Junior Team going back to 2010 when he switched from karts to single-seaters. In 2014 he won the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship and was promoted to Red Bull’s sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso (now called Alpha Tauri), for the 2015 Formula One season. In 2017, after nearly three years at Toro Rosso, it was announced that Sainz would be driving for Renault in 2018 on loan from Red Bull. Sainz would have preferred to have been promoted to the Red Bull team, but it didn’t look like that was ever going to happen for him. After 2018, however, Sainz was released from his contract and signed with McLaren for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, helping them to achieve 4th and 3rd respectively in the Formula One Constructors Championship. He was finally at a winning team and he had a two-year contract which enabled him to get a little more comfortable and build some confidence. At McLaren, Sainz really found the best version of himself, and when Ferrari came calling in 2021 he was ready to meet the challenge.
Carlos was born in Madrid, Spain to parents Reyes Vazquez de Castro (Monica Sainz) and Carlos Sainz Sr, a two-time World Rally champion. He has two sisters, Blanca and Ana. Carlos Sainz Sr is legendary in the world of rally racing and has won multiple titles in different categories. He was also the Spanish squash champion at the age of sixteen and had a tryout with the Real Madrid football (soccer) club before the racing bug took hold of him. From an early age it was clear that his son would follow in his footsteps, but Carlos Jr took the route of open-wheel racing, showing promise at an early age in karting. Driving is in his blood, as is the spirit of competition. He loves to golf and play racquet sports, and can beat most people, except for his wily father. Carlos says that probably won’t happen until his dad gets a few years older and loses a step or two.
The call from Ferrari came towards the end of the 2019 season after Sainz took the final podium spot at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He finished sixth in the Drivers Championship that year and The Scuderia was looking for someone to partner with a young Charles Leclerc. The deal was finalized in 2020 during the covid lockdown while Carlos was still in his pajamas. All the negotiations had taken place via zoom, and one morning when Carlos Jr came downstairs for some coffee, his father told him that he had a conversation with Mattia Binotto earlier (team principle of Ferrari at the time), and it was time to sign the contract. So Carlos Jr got his coffee and signed the contract in his pajamas. Carlos didn’t earn the nickname “Smooth Operator” for nothing. Sometimes it’s just that easy. But underneath the cool facade there is an aggressive competitor. Sainz didn’t move to Ferrari to be the number two driver. He is there to win championships. His father taught him to be the hunter, not the hunted, and to make the first move and make it count. In his first year at Ferrari Sainz finished fifth in the Driver Championship, two places ahead of the talented Leclerc. In his second year he finished fifth again, but this time Leclerc finished second. After a Ferrari reshuffle in 2023 where Team Principal, Mattia Binotto, was replaced by Fred Vasseur, Leclerc ended up finishing two places ahead of Sainz, after Sainz had lead the team all season. With his contract set to expire at the end of 2024, Carlos definitely has something to prove. So, it’s game on.